Like A Boy
by 7saix-puppy7
Summary: She fell through a pool in the real world and ended up in the Grandline with no remembrance of her name. She met the greatest Pirate in the world and was asked a very important question. What is her answer? AceXOC
1. Where am I?

Like A Boy

Chapter 1 Where am I?

I was doing what I usually did after school, going to the pool for a swim. There was nothing different about it. The bus would take me to the Y and I would swim for a few hours. Nothing wrong with that. Lots of kids went to the pool after school. Especially if their parents are away on yet another five year business trip and it is hundred something degrees outside.

I continued to stare out the window of the bus and watched people walking wishing they had bus fair. I could hear some girls giggling in the back of the bus. The flash of a phone camera caught my attention and I turned around. They began to giggle again when they caught my eye. I smiled, waved and turned around.

Kami-sama, why did you have to torture me so? Why did you have to make me look like a boy? I was sixteen, short brown hair that I had decided to dye blue and eyes that weren't exactly the same color all the time. My black wire glasses were even meant for guys.

My friends say I look cute in dresses and skirts but they make me feel so uncomfortable. I felt almost sick wearing them. So I stuck with my camo-cargo shorts and big t-shirts. I wore high-top converse but if it wasn't for the no shoes, no shirt, no service gig, I would rarely ever wear them.

Yeah, I was also stuck in Sin City California. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I mean Los Angeles. My parents were a famous actor and director. They also happen to hate making scenes so when they need a different setting, they go find it. Even if it is in Africa.

That means I'm usually stuck at home. They had wanted me to be a famous 'child actress' but I had clearly said no. I would rather not have the paparazzi at my door and watching me take a shower. It's hard enough with them following those two.

Though I still had to deal with it. Luckily for me, I know the manager of the Y I always go to and they said that if the paparazzi even step foot on Y property, that they will have the cops stalking them instead. I got off the bus and walked into the large building.

The indoor pool made the room smell like chlorine, but it wasn't that bad. You get used to it after a while. I went into the girl's locker room. This had freaked out a lot of people at first. I had to prove I was a girl which was really disturbing. I had gotten smacked quite a bit as well.

I put on my bathing suit which was boy's trunks and a t-shirt. I kept my bag with me and had my towel on my shoulders. I went to my usual seat and quickly did some stretches before jumping in.

Swimming was something that always made me happy. It felt good being in the water. A lot of people said it was restricting being under the water, that there was a lot of resistance and that you couldn't get far, but if you learn how to swim right, it was like swimming in air.

I went to the bottom and turned on my back. The water was clear and I could see people swimming over me. Some would wave and I would wave back. I didn't know them personally; it was just to be polite. I came up to the surface for air and looked at the others swimming.

Most were here with their kids or just by themselves. I swam to the edge and grabbed my towel. I moved my goggles to my forehead and dried my hands. I had reached for my waterproof bag to look for something to eat when I began to hear screaming.

I don't know what made me do it, but I pushed my towel into my bag and closed it. The water around me began to turn. I didn't try and get out. I simply let the water pull me under. It felt somewhat nice. Almost like the water jets in the lazy lagoon. Just gently pushing you through the canal of water.

I looked at the people who watched me go under. A small smile came on my lips as I went under. I hadn't gotten in a breath of air and my bag was the only thing allowing me to float. I felt the rush of the water going pass me and soon I blacked out.

I saw nothing. I could feel the water on my skin, but I couldn't see anything. No, I could see black. So I could see something but it was dark. Someone was shaking me. There was pressure on my stomach. It kinda hurt. Someone said something. Another person said something but it was louder. Like a yell almost.

I felt something hitting me in the head. That was my head right? Another yell and something even more painful. It hurt. It hurt a lot. It was too much pain.

"THAT HURTS!"

My fist contacted with something. Something hard but defiantly alive. Whatever it was wasn't where it used to be. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was sitting on a wooden floor. The Y didn't have a wooden floor except on the patio. Wasn't I inside? This should be cement if I was saved. I looked at the crowd around me. They defiantly weren't from the Y.

"Damn, that actually hurt." I looked at someone who had come out of a hole in the wall. It was directly in front of me. Did I really hit him that hard?

The man looked at me. He wasn't wearing a shirt and had on an orange cowboy hat. He looked so familiar. "You know for a scrawny boy, you can punch." He said putting his hand out. I took it and let him help me up.

"Girl." I corrected looking at him. He had a, well I guess it could be called a 'huh' expression, but it is kinda hard to tell.

"I'm not a boy, I'm a girl. Always have been and always will be." I said picking up my bag. I opened it up and made sure nothing was wet. "Where am I?" it took me a while to remember that I wasn't in the Y.

"The Grandline." I looked at the man who said it. He was old, and rather large. Defiantly not the size of a normal human. I guess you could say he was the size of a giant. It was hard to tell for I had never seen a giant. He set down his barrel of smelled like rum.

"You fell down into the ocean from the sky." He nodded his head up. I looked up and noticed a cloud in the shape of a funnel. Almost like a whirlpool but a bit different.

"So that's how I got sucked out of the pool." I said without thinking. The one in the cowboy hat cocked his head to the side.

"There's a pool up there? Does that mean you came from a sky island?" he asked with a grin. I looked at him with a frown.

"I don't think I even came from this world." I said honestly. I wasn't sure what to do. The moment he said Sky Island, I knew exactly where I was. What I didn't know, was why I couldn't remember anything about the place.

"What do you mean not from this world? Isn't this the only world there is?" another said walking up to me. He was slightly tanned with sandy blonde hair.

"Uh, well I was swimming in a pool, got somehow sucked into a whirlpool and fell out of a cloud onto a ship in an ocean that doesn't exist where I am from." I said crossing my arms and looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "I think that is the definition of going to a different world."

"Heh, he's got spunk." The one in the cowboy hat said. I rammed my elbow into his gut and he keeled over holding it.

"I told you I'm a girl." I said looking down at him. I then noticed that the circle around me was gone. Everyone else had other things to do. The only ones watching me were the blonde, the black haired man holding his gut and the rather large what I hoped was human man.

"What's your name, gaki?" the larger man said looking down at me. I puffed my cheeks at being called a brat but stopped. When he asked for my name, I couldn't remember anything.

"I can't remember." I said becoming depressed. It was stupid, I know it was, but for some reason I couldn't even remember my own name. I could remember what my family did, where I had been, what I thought about my life, but I couldn't even remember my name.

The blond raised an eyebrow at this and looked at me. "That's pathetic." The black haired one said looking up at me. I looked down and stepped on his back making him go flat on the deck.

"Shut up." I said looking at him. The blonde watched as the black haired man stood up glared at me.

"Would you stop hitting me!" the black haired man said glaring at me. "You stupid boy!"  
"I told you to stop calling me a boy!" I said hitting him again. He put a hand to his stomach and then slammed his forehead to mine. I glared up at him. He was taller than me by six inches.

"You can't even remember your name, yet you know your gender." He said pushing down. I pushed up.

"Of course I know my gender; I can remember pretty much everything about my life. I just can't remember my name." I said continuing my glare.

I heard the blond chuckle and say something about the air being colder. "I think they like each other." the man said to the one in the chair.

"Like hell!" we said at the same time.


	2. Name Choice

Okay, I want to continue to write this fanfic because 'Ive got some good ideas. I know I just published it, but I am a very impatient person. That is probably why I update quickly. Well, thanks to kallakkala who I talk to a lot because they have favorited like all of my fics, I went onto a Japanese name website and looked up Japanese names. I found a bunch that I happened to like. I'll tell you what they are and what they mean. I would like to see which ones you like and will go based off the favorite. A few were picked because of the main character's often being called a boy by Ace:

Youko- ocean child

Tahehiko- bamboo prince

Nanami- seven sea

Mizuki- beautiful moon

Mariko- true village child

Kazuo- one man

Kaito- ocean soar

Chiyoko- thousand generations child

Akio- bright husband/man

Aoi- blue

Atsuke- honest child

Well, I hope you tell me which ones you like the best. Like I said before, you wont be hearing me for a day or two. I promise to get a chapter of Run for the Highschool up either tonight or tomorrow. Hope you like the choices. I still accept others if you have any ideas. ^^


	3. My Name

Like A Boy

Chapter 2 My Name

The black haired guy who had said that his name was Ace and I kept glaring at each other with massive killing intent. A lot of the guys didn't feel like getting near us in fear that we might start killing each other and they might get into the cross fire.

"A sketchbook?"

I looked over at the man who said it. He had picked up my bag and was going through it. I rammed my feet into his head. (Like how Haruhi did to the computer club president.)

"Who said you could go through my stuff?" I said quickly taking my stuff. The man rubbed his head complaining about how hard I had hit him. I stuck my tongue out and went back to my seat on the railing. Serves him right for going through my things without my permission. How the hell did he even get my things?

"What's that?" Ace asked looking at my i-touch. It had been placed near my sketchbook and had been pulled to the surface of my bag. I quickly grabbed it and stared at the screen.

"Should have known." I said getting depressed again. It was frozen. There was no way it could work in this world. Besides, I doubt a signal would come here. And if it did, a simple five minute call would be pretty damn expensive. Even national calls weren't cheap and I was in a totally different world.

"What is it?" the blonde man asked again. He had said that his name was Marco. I looked up at him and began to explain.

"It's called a cell phone. You can call anybody with it. You can also play games, listen to music and take pictures." I said showing it to him. "Well I could anyway. Right know it's just an expensive picture frame."

"What's the picture of?" Ace said looking over the man's shoulder. I took it back and put it in my bag.

"Me and my family; when we still were one." I said simply not wanting to talk about it.

"Don't seem too concerned about it." The one they called Pops said look down at me.

"Like I said, the photo was taken when we were still a family. I haven't seen them in almost ten years; it makes no difference to me." I said again trying not to continue the conversation. I really didn't like talking about it.

Pops didn't ask anymore and motioned for one of his nurses to show me a room to stay in. I thanked him and they showed me where the women's rooms were. I was given my own room. They brought dinner to me instead of me eating with them. I didn't mind much, but it made me curious.

I ate in silence and did what they told me to and put the plate out in the hall. For some reason it made me feel like a prisoner. Eating alone wasn't anything new to me though. I wonder if I made them uncomfortable somehow. It was possible that it revolved around the whole parent thing. I wish it didn't. Thinking about it made my head hurt.

Whatever happened to me in the real world defiantly wouldn't reach my parents. If it did, well, I doubt they would drop everything and make sure I was alright. They wouldn't care.

I went over to the bed and fell face first onto it. I didn't even have my plushie to sleep with. I may be a teenager, but I loved the things. That probably sounded weird, but a lot of teenagers sleep with plushies, well at least the ones I know do. There is nothing wrong with a stuffed toy.

Now that I think about, what about my friends. Would they miss me? Though I never really did see them a lot. They were all movie star obsessed. They might have only liked me because I could get them to have a sleep over at a movie star and famous director's house. Another reason why being a celebrity's child is unbearable.

I turned onto my back and closed my eyes. The boat rocked gently on the waves giving me a calming feeling. I liked the feeling. The smell of the open sea seemed to soak through the wood. I blew the candle they had given me out and curled up under the thin sheets. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

I woke up the next morning feeling a little out of place. It felt like something was missing, that was when I realized, it was the sunlight. I looked around the plain wood walled room and my mind finally caught up to me and I remembered that I was on the Grandline.

I looked out the window of the ship and saw another perched outside. This one was not as big as the one I was on, but big enough to block the window in my room. I stood up and looked at the clothes I was wearing. They were the ones from the day before, well to be more precise, my swim clothes.

I changed into the clothes I had been wearing before that and carefully opened my door. Thudding from above filled my ears and I looked around. The halls of the ship were vacant; except for a young nurse who was standing guard at my door.

"So, am I a prisoner now?" I asked her trying to be sarcastic. She seemed to pick up the joke and giggled.

"No, they just asked me to stay here and tell you that there was a fight going upstairs. You can go up of you want though. The nurses will come down if it gets serious, but most of the time we're fine up there." She said smiling.

I walked out of the room and looked at the stairs that led to the upper level that had a door that led to the main deck. "Is it serious?" I asked somewhat bored and wanting to see the fight at the same time.

"Not really, but not many are. It more depends on numbers and if they tend to sneak and hide." She said going back to the book she had in her lap. I glanced at her one last time before heading towards the steps.

"Be careful." The nurse said. I looked at her and smiled a thank you.

"I know self-defense." I told her climbing the wooden steps two at a time. I opened the door on the roof and then closed it again. The sound of fighting was getting louder. I could hear a yell from what sounded like Ace and then a lot of screaming from whoever challenged him.

I crept to the door and put an ear to it. I remained completely frozen as an axe went right by my head. I looked at it bugged eye and heard the door open. Someone yelled to stop him. That gave me all the info I needed.

As soon as the door opened I landed a kick into whoever it was' gut. He keeled over dropping the axe that he had ran into the door. I looked at everyone else. The guys from the ship I was on looked at me. They hadn't expected me to bother coming to the main deck. It was written on their faces.

I'm pretty sure I found the captain of the crew. He was pretty much covered in jewels and had the coat. The coat was pretty awesome except I didn't like the color or the decals and jewels on it. The old man glanced at me before going back to the enraged captain who was screaming about killing the old man.

A small chuckle rose in my throat as he started to go hysteric at the old man's ignorance of him. His crew had stopped attacking and was behind their captain trying to support him. The man stopped and looked me. I stopped the chuckle in my throat and stared back. Ace who was on the railing waved at me and Marco said good morning.

They were probably pretty used to people randomly attacking them. They were pirates after all. The other captain walked up to me. I looked at him curious about what he was doing. I stood there with my hands in my pockets and waited for him to speak. I saw Ace tense up in the corner of my eye.

"I heard you laughing, brat." The man said putting his sword at my throat.

"That was because your little dance was quite entertaining." I said with a grin. Well it was.

The man's face became red with either rage or embarrassment, hell it could have been both. He took his sword away from my throat and swung it up ready to hack my head in half.

That move however made the rest of him vulnerable. He was screaming something about dying and what not but that was typical. A simple kick to the crotch made him tear up and roll on the floor. His crew had winced at that and Ace was staring at me with pain on his face.

The man looked up at me with a 'damn you bitch' look. I kicked him again and he passed out.

"Are you trying to kill us too!" Ace asked me shocked at me kicking the dude again. I looked at him with a bored expression.

"I'm a girl so it doesn't affect me and I don't do guilt." I said simply.

"You heartless wench!"

I looked down at the captain.

"Weren't you unconscious?" I asked him. He looked at me with another painful look and I kicked him again. Not in the crotch this time. I hit him in the ribs and sent him to his crew. I walked forward and began to walk where Ace was sitting.

I passed by the group who were hovering over their captain. I heard a chuckle from Pops. He seemed to like the way I handled things. One of the crew stepped in front of me. I stopped and stared at him.

"Don't think you can get away from us after doing that to our captain." He said pulling out a small dagger. I opened my mouth and shut it pointing my thumb back at the man in the seat.

"I'm not an expert at this, but I also am not an idiot." I said to the crew. "I would be killed in seconds if I fought him. I just kicked your captain a couple of times and he is like this. Do the math and be thankful." I patted his shoulder and walked pass.

The man stayed where he was and I sat next to Ace and Marco. Ace gave me a high five and I smiled. It was new, but I liked the feeling I got being with these people.

"You're honest." Marco said meaning what I had told the guy. I looked at him and shrugged.

"It's a simple fact, that's all." I said looking back at the crew.

"Yeah, Pops can kick my ass and I can kick yours." Ace said laughing a bit.

"And who got knocked down about five times." I pointed out. He was about to remark, but something hit him in the head sending him over board. I think it was an iron club. Someone said whoops meaning that it was probably aimed for me.

"He really needs to learn how to make his body turn to fire at anytime." Marco said face palming.

"Turn to fire?" I asked wondering what he meant. Can people really turn to fire in this world?

"Oh, yeah, you're not from this world so you don't know. Here we have Akuma no Mi, eating one gives you a certain power based off of whichever kind it was." Marco explained while I listened carefully. "Ace ate one that turns his body to fire."

"Ah I see," I said turning back to the ocean. "He's not coming up."

"On the down side, you can't swim." Marco said totally indifferent to the fact that his friend was drowning. I looked at him with a shocked face before quickly diving into the water. Marco watched me go down.

I opened my eyes as I entered the sea. It was blurry and kinda painful, but my goggles had broken and since I had been on the swim team, I wasn't use to swimming without them. I released a small amount of air as I descended deeper into the water.

I swiftly kicked my feet and searched around. It took me a while before I finally found Ace floating in the water, heading deeper and deeper down. His orange hat was still attached to his neck. I quickly went to him. There was a small burning in my throat and I knew I was running out of air.

I grabbed Ace's foot and was able to get his arm around my shoulder and started to head for the surface. I could see the light from the sun on the surface. The other ship also seemed to have been set off meaning that the others had driven them away.

I was probably about ten or more meters from the surface when a large fish monster thingy came passed above me. My mouth went wide open letting out all my air. I quickly closed it and continued to swim up trying my hardest to ignore it as the thing swam pass me and deeper into the water.

I broke the surface and gasped for air. Ace was beginning to wake up when his body reflexively started to take in the oxygen again. I swam to the ship where the guys helped me up. Ace coughed up some water and looked at me.

"Thanks." He said shaking his wet hair. I grinned and then remembered the monster.

"What the hell was that?" I asked Marco. The man looked at me.

"Must have been a sea king. They're pretty much all over the Grandline, especially in the Calm Belt." He said calmly. I looked at him with a large smile.

"TELL ME THAT BERORE I GO JUMPING INTO THE WATER!" I screamed at him hitting him in the head. "Mo, that scared the shit out of me."

Marco rubbed his head but apologized knowing that I was right. He looked at Pops and the man nodded.

"Well, we figured we might as well tell you this. The reason we had asked you to eat in your room was because we wanted to discuss something. Pretty much every person agreed on it." He said to me. I was drying my hair with a towel that a nurse had given me.

"Join my crew." the old man said. "Become one of my sons."

I stared at him. I wasn't exactly shocked. Surprised was more of the word I was looking for. It was warm though. The feeling I got when he asked me to join. I smiled but then looked at him with crossed arms.

"It's impossible." I said with closed eyes. I could hear shuffling before I smiled and opened one eye to stare at the man. "I'm a girl so it's impossible for me to be your son. Daughter is the correct word."

He grinned and I gave out a small laugh. Marco patted my head and everyone told me welcome. I smiled and said thanks. It was going to be fun. That was what I was telling myself. And here, I won't have to be lonely anymore.

"But you know," Ace began, "We need to call you something."

"Ah, that's right." Marco said remembering that I couldn't remember my name. "You need a name."

"Oi, I'm not a dog." I said looking at them. A bunch of them had gotten together into a group and were discussing it.

"How about Kazuo?" Ace suggested.

"I'm a girl!" I said yelling at him.

"Atsuko?" Marco suggested.

"Oi!"

"Takehiko?"

"What is with the child references!"

"Mizuki?"

"AKIO!"

"OI!"

"I like Chiyoko or Mizuki."

I looked at Pops with tear in my eyes. There was no way I could get them to listen to me. "Pops help."

"Youko." He said with a serious face as if he had thought it through thoroughly.

"NOT YOU TOO!" I screamed before falling in defeat. It wasn't fair.

"I like it."

"Me too."

Ace pointed at me as I moved my finger back and forth on the deck.

"Your name is Youko know." He said grinning as if it had been his idea.

"I already told you, I'm not a dog, you can't just name me like one and what is with the child references?" I said looking at him.

"The name fits." Marco said backing Ace up. "You can swim very well and went pass a sea king without him noticing so You works and you're a kid so Ko."

"I'm not a kid!" I said angry at being called one.

"How old are you." Pops asked.

"Sixteen." I said easily.

"You're a kid." They all said it in unison. I drooped defeated again. Why Youko, I don't know. It meant Ocean Child but why?

"Fine, I'll be Youko." I said knowing I'd probably regret it later.


	4. So, What Now?

Like A Boy

Chapter 3 So, What Now?

I woke up in the nurses courters. Since they were pretty much the only female members beside me, I was to live with them. I did keep the same room I had however. Pops said that I was allowed my own room for different purposes. I didn't question or complain.

One thing about living alone, you learn that having your own room can be nice. You learn how much private life is cherished. Especially when you have paparazzi tailing you where ever you go.

I stood up and headed towards the showers that were given to the nurses. Thank you Pops for giving the girls their own guy-proof bathrooms. But showering with a bunch of other girls around is new to me. I mean there is nothing wrong with it, but well, I'm just not used to it.

I walked in with my towel and clothes that I had mooched off of Ace and Marco. I had refused to wear anything that the nurses had. They told me that the next island they found, Pops said that I could get new clothes. The ones I had weren't going to last and I couldn't keep stealing the guys clothes.

Some nurses were already in the bath. The one that had been at my door that one day came up to me. She wasn't ashamed with coming up to me without anything on. I smiled at her and went to the area where you take your clothes off.

I quickly got unchanged and she began chatting about some random gossip. What she was saying, I barely understood. I had gotten into the habit of ignoring childish chatter that it took a while for me to be able to concentrate. But for some reason, here, I felt like listening. I felt like listening to the draining gossip this girl was talking about.

I sat on a chair after she offered to wash my back. I had wondered what it felt like. What it felt like to have another person wash your back. That may seem a little weird, but I guess you can get what I meant.

She continued talking and I smiled as she said that she was so happy that I came. "Ne, don't you think Ace is so hot?" she asked catching my attention.

"Hah!" I said looking at her with a shocked face.

"Well, yeah, but I'm jealous." She said looking at me.

I looked at Lee. That was what she had said her name had been the day that I had been accepted into the crew. I switched with her and began to scrub her bag. It was different for me and it took my arms a little while to get used to the motion.

"Jealous of who?" I asked thinking about one of the nurses going out with the hot headed pirate. They were all talking amongst themselves. None really paying attention to the two of us.

"You of course." She said turning around and smiling at me. "You and Ace are already do close. You talk a lot and you even argue with him. Marco even said it."

"I am pretty sure he was just messing with us and all Ace and I do is argue. Besides, I think we want to kill each other more than anything else." I said doubting it even more. What the hell was going through this girl's head?

"Okay, but I still think he likes you. Ah, I wish he would like me too." She said as we sat in the bath with the other girls. I sweat dropped as she got blissful look on her face.

The other girls noticed our conversation and decided to join in with us. A lot seemed to agree with what Lee had told me earlier.

"Come on." I tried to get them to listen but the girls insisted. It was annoying. That might be the fact as to why I never talked to other girls. A small bubbling feeling came into my stomach.

I tried to hold it in, the feeling was different from what I was used to, but I couldn't help but start laughing over whether Ace and I would get together. I should have probably have been annoyed or maybe even angry at this whole affair, but for some reason I was laughing. Maybe that was what it felt like when you talked to someone.

I laughed as they continued to argue. Lee noticed my laughter and joined in with my laughter. I'm not sure when the arguing actually stopped, but eventually laughter filled the bath.

* * *

I stared at Ace and he stared back. Marco was sitting and watching us as we did so. I could hear people asking questions as they watched us with amused looks.

"How long how they have been at it?"

"I think it has been a few minutes."

"They really are doing well together."

"You blinked Youko." Marco said calmly. I looked at him in disbelief.

"Boo, that wasn't fair."I said batting away Ace's hand. He had snapped his fingers in front of me and by reflex I blinked. Ace grinned a cocky, winner's grin.

"Fine, you get half, but only half, of my lunch." I said in defeat. Ace cheered and I sighed again.

"Ace, you really shouldn't cheat though." A guy said walking up to us. I remember him calling himself Thatch.

"We never placed down rules, so it was legal." Ace said as the man sat with us.

"Yeah, but you aren't supposed to make the other person blink." I said explaining the actual rules. "You have to out stare them."

"Okay, then let's try it again. But this time I won't force you to blink." Ace challenged. I nodded in agreement.

*two minutes later*

"Victory!" I cheered as Ace sighed in defeat. I also got my lunch back.

"Dammit, I was close to." He complained. I grinned at him and Thatch started to laugh at Ace's misfortune.

"I wouldn't have given you any of my food anyway." I said crossing my arms. Ace looked at me shocked and I stuck my tongue out at him.

He grabbed my cheeks and pulled hard. It hurt so I grabbed his. Marco was enjoying our childish fight and Thatch just started to laugh. Ace let go and kicked me in the face. It forced me to let go of him and I fell backwards.

"You're so dead." I said getting up and following the man that had decided to run away.

Nobody seemed to mind the fact that Ace and I were fighting like a bunch of kids. Most seemed to think of it as being rather entertaining and watched as we climbed up the mast. Well, Ace jumped up, I quickly scaled the ropes.

He was on one side of the crow's nest and I was on the other. We were both balancing on the wood that was attached to the mast. (I never remember what it's called.) We glared at each other but we were also smiling. This was fun. This was a lot of fun.

The boat rocked and Ace and I almost lost our balance. We gripped the crow's nest and watched as the men below began to prepare for something. We heard shouting from below. I couldn't hear what they said, but Ace did.

He told me to furl the sail and I went over to the rope and began to pull up. The sail was heavy, but I was able to get it up. Ace showed me how to tie the knot so that it didn't come undone during the storm.

"That came out of nowhere." I told him as we went down to the deck. Ace started laughing and looked at me.

"Welcome to the Grandline and its weather." He said as we were ordered inside.

The navigator had picked up signs of a cyclone and even though he didn't know where it would be, there was still the threat. We were all in what I guess you could call a living room style room that was inside the ship.

A hot stew lunch was served there. I moved some soaked locks out of my hair and thanked Ace when he gave me a bowl. I took a bite and looked around. Nobody was worried or anything, they were acting as if it was normal. But if what Ace told me was true, then this was normal.

"The storm scare you?" Marco asked sitting next to me and Ace. I looked up at him and shook my head.

"More of just surprised, but where I come from, we get a lot of earthquakes so things like this suddenly happening don't scare me much." I said remembering all the incidents that happened in California over the past few years.

"Earthquakes?" Ace asked me.

"Yeah, California, the place I came from is well known for them. I guess you could say that it is just something you learn to live with." I said eating more of the soup. Damn it was a hell of a lot better than the instant ramen that I was used to making so much.

"They just randomly pop up?" Marco asked eating his stew before Ace got a chance at stealing it. I nodded and hit Ace's hand as he tried to take my bread.

"At school, home, walking, swimming, we can tell when they're coming if they're big, but the most we can do is try and evacuate." We got up to get more. Ace had already done so a few times but he too wanted more. "Are you a bottomless pit?"

Marco and Ace both nodded and I shook my head as we sat back down to eat. Ace ate his bowl a little slower this time.

"What happens if you don't get out on time?" Ace asked me.

"Hide under something sturdy and carry on with your business." I said taking another bite, "Though most seem to pray that they come out alive."

"What about you?" Marco asked. Was he wondering if I was scared to die?

"I got scared a couple of times, but soon you get used to them. Though I still become nervous whenever something lands on whatever I'm hiding under." I said remembering the earthquake I had at home once. It hadn't been big, but it did scare me.

_*flashback*_

_I had been doing my homework for seventh grade when the TV told me to take cover because of a small earthquake. I had listened and went under the table in the kitchen to finish my work. I had turned off the TV because they told you to turn off electronics and such._

_Nothing was happening for a while but I decided to stay under the table. I had a pillow and was too comfortable to move from the spot that I was on. It was about twenty minutes later that I felt the vibration. _

_I stopped writing and watched my notebook move a bit. I stayed where I was and waiting. That choking feeling began to rise in my chest as it became a little harder. I heard a small crashing noise and looked out the window to see one of the planters had fallen down._

_Other than the small rumbling, the house was empty. I was alone in this. I heard another crash but this was way closer. The table shook impact and I curled up into a ball and began to whimper. _

_I think it was about half an hour later that I finally got out from under the table and looked around. What had landed on the table was a plant that had fallen off the table at the top of the stairs. _

_My heart was beating faster, but there was nothing I could do about. I turned on the TV and watched the man say that it was only a four point two magnitude and that there were no major damages._

_I walked to the broom closet and pulled what I needed to clean the mess in the living room. Nobody was seriously hurt, no one really cared._

_*end of flashback*_

"So you're scared of earthquakes?" Ace asked with an evil grin. Marco chuckled at his thoughts obviously knowing something I didn't.

"I told you already, I'm used to them by now. And what are you two getting at?" I asked. I heard Ace curse. Guess I wasn't supposed to recognize the grin, or he wanted me to be scared.

"Don't worry about it." Marco said patting my back. He got up and took our dishes to the kitchen where the person in charge of dishes that week would clean them.

I looked out the window and noticed that it wasn't raining anymore. "Snow?" I asked looking at Ace. The man stood up and walked over to the window. I followed and Marco came up to us when he noticed where we were.

"I think I see an island." Ace said squinting his eyes to see the dark figure. Someone with what Marco had taught me was a log post looked at it and nodded his head.

"Guess it's a winter island." Ace said with a grin.

"So all it does is snow?" I asked looking at the snow that was falling. I had never seen this much before.

"Pretty much, but let's hope there is a village." Marco said remembering that they were nearing the end if their food supplies. Ace nodded knowing the fact as well.

It took the ship another couple of hours to reach the island. I was sensitive to the cold due to me living in a rather warm place. I stared at the island with a grin. It was the first time seeing land in awhile for me. The first time since I came to this world.

Ace walked out in a large black trench coat and looked at me with a grin. "So even the fire guy has a problem with the cold?" I asked raising an eyebrow at the coat. Ace shrugged and put his hands in his pockets.

Marco wasn't wearing any jacket; he had just decided to close the shirt that he usually kept open to reveal his mark as part of the crew. I put my hand to my side. Near the front and slightly slanted was where I had gotten my tattoo.

We stopped at a manmade port that proved that there was civilization or at least people on the island. The nurses asked Pops to stay on the ship, but the old man was stubborn and said that a little cold wasn't going to kill him. I grinned and followed Ace and Marco.

We had found a path to the village that we assumed was there. It wound us through woods and finally showed us the small village. There were no people out and about. The town was vacant and seemed to be abandoned.

"They must have had bad experiences with pirates." Marco said continuing to walk forward. I followed confused.

"They're in their houses." Ace told me pointing to a window that had a small boy watching us. I assumed it was his mother who shooed him away quickly.

"Freeze." A man said walking in front of us with a shot gun.

"Already doing so." I muttered earning a chuckle from Ace. More men came from behind the houses. All were holding weapons of some sort or another.

"What do want in this village, pirates?" the man asked spitting the last word. A tick appeared on my forehead. I didn't happen to like him spitting the word pirate. Ace stopped me from doing anything I would regret.

"We came to get supplies." Marco said revealing that he was the leader of the small group that we brought with us. The nurses had gotten Pops to stay back on the ship.

"Likely story, we have nothing to sell to the likes of you." He said pointing his gun at us. He really seemed to hate us.

"Do trees, usually walk?" I asked noticing a pine tree in the forest behind the village begin to move.

"I don't think the tree, is walking, I think its falling." Ace said noticing it too.

The men turned around and dropped their weapons. It might have been from the cold, but they were shaking. Maybe it was fear.

"GET THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN OUT OF HERE!" the one who had first stopped us yelled. The people from inside the houses bolted out. I looked around as they began to swarm pass us.

"What is going on?" Marco asked one of the men before he ran off. The man became too terrified of what was coming down the mountain to remember we were pirates.

"Boars, they tear through anything in their path. They show no mercy, it's a stampede." He said before continuing to follow the rest of the village.

"So, now what?" I asked looking at the rest of the group.

"Run you idiot!" Ace said hitting me on the head and grabbing my wrist, dragging me away as the others also began to bolt. I caught a glimpse of the things through the snow that shrouded them.

They were big. 


	5. Don't Mock My Family!

Like A Boy

Chapter 4 Don't Mock My Family!

The path that they had taken wasn't uphill, so the crew didn't have a downhill run, but they did have trouble running through the snow. I tried to keep up, but running in the snow and in boots was new for me. I even tripped once. Ace at helped me up and I kept up as well as I could.

I noticed the ocean coming towards us as we continued to run. Pops was standing in front of the ship and I could see the rest of the villagers off in the distant. Obviously the rest of the crew had been told what was happening. The people of the village seemed to have had another route that got them to the beach faster.

I tripped again and almost fell but Ace had grabbed my arm and pulled me up and he didn't let me go. He almost carried, well more of dragged, me the rest of the way to the beach. We skidded to a halt right beside Pops. The man was staring at the oncoming boars.

"Those things are huge." I said looking at the red things. The boars were about five feet tall and were not stopping.

"No duh." Ace said looking at me. He noticed that he was still holding my arm and let it go. I looked at his face and saw a slight tint of pink. Was it from the snow?

I noticed the stance that Pops was in. He had braced himself and forced his right arm in front of him. I saw cracks in the air and raised my eyebrows. I leaned towards Ace to ask him a question.

"What's he doing?" I asked the pyro. Ace chuckled and leaned in to whisper to me what it was.

"That's Pops's Akuma no Mi. It's called the Gura Gura no Mi. He creates earthquakes." He said as the ground began shake. I felt the familiar feeling and the same choking torment grow into my throat.

The ground under the boars flew up and the snow mist began to fade away. The impact sent an aftermath towards us. The guys were used to the aftermath, but with having to deal with earthquakes, I was not exactly happy with it.

The other folks held onto each other as the ground around them shook. I grabbed Ace's arm when I felt the snow begin to slide. The man looked at me, but I kept my face forward and watched as Pops easily knocked out and drove away the boars that had been stampeding towards us.

I kept gripping the fire man's arm. It took me a while to notice that I had gripped him and I quickly let go muttering an apology. I could feel heat come up onto my face and I looked at the ground. I could hear silent chuckles from Marco and I sent him a glare, but he only grinned at me and said he saw nothing.

I chanced a look at Ace and he was staring at me. Bad idea. I looked at the mess that was before us and Pops seemed quite proud of himself. Yeah, that probably would have been a bloody mess even thought these guys were kick ass strong. I'm pretty much useless compared to them.

The sound of water rushing out and the villagers screaming came to my ears next. I turned around to see what Marco had called a sea king aim for us. They were actually quite delicious if you cook them right.

The villagers were running from the monster and Ace began to drool. "Guess tonight will be a party." Marco said as Vista easily beheaded the thing. Party, with these guys, I'm guessing I might not make it to bed.

* * *

What I had thought was correct. I had never laughed so much in my life before. I was uncomfortable at first since I had never been to them so I mainly just stayed where I was and ate. Ace and Marco joined me and we sat in hearing range of Pops. I call him that more and more often now. It's new, but I like actually being able to call someone dad.

"So you are afraid of earthquakes." Marco said recalling me clinging onto Ace when it had started.

"No, I'm just use to having some sort of warning when they come and a lot of things falling on top of me." I had mumbled the last part but they seemed to have been able to hear me because Ace began to crack up.

"But why did you grab Ace?" Marco asked biting into his meat. I was declared to be seated in the middle so the man had less of a chance of getting his food stole. Goody for me.

"He was the closest and it was reflex. I'm used to hiding under things." I said quickly picking up my piece of sea king. Don't use knives and forks anymore.

"So you are scared."

"You're scared of earthquakes?" Pops looked at me with what seemed to be a concerned face. Maybe he was hoping that he didn't scare me earlier.

"NO~~~!" I said with a heavy sigh. "I'm pretty much used to them; I just am also used to hiding whenever they show up."

"So you're scared of them." Ace said swiping my meat.

"NO AND QUIT STEALING MY FOOD!" I grabbed the meat and tried to take it out of the man's mouth. Ace clenched harder with his teeth and I pulled harder. Marco started laughing and so did the guys around us.

I eventually let go which sent Ace sprawling over the log we were sitting on. I started laughing as well as he sat up and rubbed his head, the piece of meat still in his mouth. Pops was grinning at us.

My nerves were beginning to settle down as I got more into the party. I learned how to swipe food very easily. Well, I also had a master to teach me. Ace said that he had been doing it for years. I was laughing the whole entire time. Did I doubt the pyro? No I didn't. The man could probably even steal from Pops. He might not live, but he could.

* * *

The sun was setting. The villagers had gone back to their village as soon as the sea king had been slewed and brought out of the water. Vista and Jozu were drinking. Vista had on a blissful half drunk face while Jozu had on his usual frown but still seemed to be enjoying his drink.

Ace and Marco had decided to do an arm wrestling competition but Thatch reluctantly stopped them after the second or third broken barrel of beer. They were complaining about it so I showed them an old trick one of my friends had done before when she lived in Pennsylvania.

I grabbed their beer mugs and scooped up the beer soaked snow and then handed it to them. They began to drink the liquid slush and most actually liked it. Ace tried it and handed it to me. I had never had any sort of alcohol before.

"You can't be pirate unless you drink." He had said it as a fact, but in my head, it sounded like a challenge. I grabbed the glass and chugged to beer slushy. It was actually really good.

Ace laughed as I proved that I had downed the drink. He wanted to see what I would be like if I had it straight and without the snow. I accepted feeling that old knot begin to disappear. The feeling of wanting to win rushed through me. Not exactly adrenalin, but more of like when you are in a race or playing a sport and you have just gotta win. That feeling. For me, this little drinking contest that the man proposed sounded like a good idea.

There were five of us who decided to see who could out drink each other: me, Ace, Marco because he thought it would be interesting, Vista even though he was already drunk, and Pops deemed that he would join. We didn't argue but the feeling of the old man joining in seemed a bit unfair.

We started with a barrel each. That was more than I had expected but I tried my best. It was actually quite easy to drink it; it was hoping I could maintain the poison that made me a little worried. Somehow I survived the first barrel, but they decided to bring out another. Vista fell asleep after this one with a small complaint from Ace but like I had already said, he was already pretty was out.

Okay, the second barrel was tough, I doubt I would have been able to survive it in my world but here it seemed that normal humans had a better drinking capacity. Either that or I wasn't a light weight like Ace had thought. Dear Kami-sama, please don't make me one of those people who gets drunk and does absolutely embarrassing things and totally forgets about them the next day.

I finished the second one and I could tell that I was getting partially drunk. Ace grinned at this and hoped I would get more into me before collapsing. Yeah, this didn't exactly happen. I began to drink the third barrel, but I was either too tired or the alcohol and that warming feeling that seemed to come to my gut made me finally collapse.

I heard my head hit the table even though it was a bit fuzzy. I could also hear Ace's rambunctious laughter which told me he was drunk and that he was laughing at my face for falling asleep already. At least I wasn't acting like a drunken idiot. Well, hoped I wouldn't wake up and then act like one.

* * *

I woke up the next morning in the same spot that I had fallen asleep in. I noticed Vista and Ace were still asleep or unconscious, one of the two, in their same spots. Marco was leaning up and holding his head obviously still queasy from the beer he had. I tried sitting up but a piercing pain made me lie back down.

"Never had a hangover before?" he asked me. To my ears his voice was loud and really annoying. I wanted to yell at him to shut up but only a slight wince came.

"First time actually drinking so yeah, I'm pretty sure it is." I said with sarcasm stinging my tongue. "What happened?"

"Ace and I lost at the same time like usual and Pops probably kept on going. Don't worry, like pretty much half of us, all you did was sleep." He said knowing that I was worried that I might've done something stupid and utterly embarrassing.

I tend to think that a lot here. Usually I don't care about whether or not someone thinks I did something stupid, but in front of these guys, it was almost like a given.

"Though you did prove to us that you were in fact a girl."

I instantly sat up and looked at the man with wide eyes. I didn't stay up for long though and my head eventually forced me to collapse back down onto table. A small chuckle came from Marco but he stopped because it obviously pained him.

"I'm joking, but damn I didn't think that you could last that long." He said as I glared up at him from the table. I noticed Pops sleeping on the ground near where he had been sitting. Most of the guys were also sleeping on the ground or randomly in a tree. The only people missing were the nurses but they were probably in their beds on the ship.

"Neither did I, but remind me the next time we have a drinking contest." I said a small hiccup formed in my throat but I felt the woozy feeling begin to subside as the cold air of the winter island washed over us in a breeze.

"Hm." Marco said looking down at me. Him being Mr. Pirate was used to the heavy drinking and was fine with sitting up.

"Ace, sits somewhere besides next to me." The man had done almost anything in his power to make me laugh and almost choke on the beer that we had. I did have to admit that the stuff tasted awesome. No wonder so many people got hooked on it. That might not be a good thing.

Hell, I don't even think there is a drinking law in this world. And if there was, screw it, I'm a pirate now. I don't listen to no shitty laws that the damn government or marines or whoever wants us dead says. I think I'm still a little drunk because I doubt I would usually say that. Or curse that much. Have I been cursing a lot lately? I can't remember and my head hurts.

* * *

I think it was when the wind kicked up a lot when we actually got up. Some men had woken up around the time Marco and I had, but like me, they were unable to lift their heads. The chilly air brought us back to where we were but was not unwelcome. Those of us dealing with migraines and our expected hangovers liked the cool air against the skin.

Ace seemed fine even though he was a little giddy. Marco told me that he was always like that after a party and he had drunken a lot. To put it simply, Ace could drink and not get a hangover but get hyper. It kinda ticked me off when he started laughing at me for going out so early. Vista didn't say anything about himself being drunk and that that was the only reason he lost to me probably because my face said that I was clearly irritated with Ace at the moment.

I turned to Ace and I could feel the tick marks on my face appear. Ace stopped and got the look of a deer in head lights. Were there head lights or even cars here? Anyway, he clearly stopped but he still had that somewhat happy hyperactive boyish look on his face.

"I'm going to ask you nicely Ace." I said with my eye going into one of its twitching fits like it does every now and then. "SHUT UP!"

Somehow the scream in the end did not make my headache worse. Probably because it was aiding in the shutting up of something that would make it worse. Like what has been happening lately, men began to chuckle at my comments and yelling at Ace.

I didn't want to be mean to the man. Hell, he was my first actual friend since I don't know, but he did do a lot to get on my nerve. Especially his boy comments. I did not choose to look like a boy, but my chest being flat did have its advantages. They didn't get in the way of things and I didn't have to worry about them much. And guys didn't fall head over heels for them and do nothing but stare at them. I wonder how the other females handled that.

I lay my head back on the table and closed my eyes. The pounding was still there, but the cold winter air helped. The jacket I was wearing had been opened once I had gotten used to the cold weather. Marco still didn't need one and had even decided to open it up again revealing his tattoo and well developed chest.

I didn't have much when it came to muscle but I didn't have baby fat either. That was something swimming did to you. I had more leg and arm muscle than anything else, but I defiantly wasn't a monster like these guys were.

* * *

The locals came down around three or so in the afternoon. I doubt some of us were still even awake. They saw us in our somewhat recovering state and seemed to be a little less frightened. The man who had first attacked us when we came had deemed himself the chief and thanked us for stopping the animals that had attacked.

They were used to living in the New World, which I had been told was the second half of the Grandline, but were stilled scared of the animals ad because pirates and even marines had been of no help, they had wished to drive them all out.

Pops understood but said that the only reason he had gotten rid of the animals was because they needed meat and that they were attacking his children. I liked how he didn't say sons which meant that I had been counted into that category of who he was protecting.

The villagers were thankful and even helped us with getting supplies by telling us where the best wild boars were and telling us where we could get water. A lot of us stayed behind and so did I. My migraine was still killing me so I was allowed to wait. I did have to help bring the stuff onto the ship however.

I ate some food that was left over from the night before and watched as village children came to look at the pirates. They had all heard of Pops but had never seen the man up close before. He sat at the table we were having our drinking contest at while I continued to eat.

A young woman maybe in her thirties or so, I couldn't tell because I suck at ages, walked up to me. A small scorn was on her face and she obviously seemed disgusted by something. She stood in front of me and I looked up at her.

"How?" she asked me and I looked at her confused. "How did such a young girl like yourself wind up with a group of pirates?" she seemed to be asking as if I had been kidnapped or something.

"I fell out of the sky and they saved my ass." I said bluntly. Yup, I'm defiantly cursing more. The woman stared at me and I stared back. Maybe a simpler answer would work better. "Maybe I was just sick and tired of being alone."

The woman stepped back at this answer and I could feel Pops's stare. Yeah, I had told them that I didn't really have a family, but I never said that I had been by myself the whole time. The woman continued on however.

"So what if you parents are dead, what about the island and its people, surely they would take care of you." She said looking at me desperate. "I mean, how can a little girl like you be able to survive in the world of piracy?" the remark ticked me off and I couldn't help but snap at the woman.

"Would you just shut the hell up!" the woman took a step back from me. "What right do you have to lecture me about this sort of thing and assume my parents are dead? My only father is Pops and that is who it will always be."

Pops grinned at my answer and seemed proud at what I had just said. I didn't exactly know what I was saying but I did know that my hangover was gone. The woman didn't falter however.

"So you're saying that you don't care about your parents? Your real ones? Are they even alive?" she looked at me as if I was crazy.

"Sure, they're alive, well, last time I heard news about them they were. I don't know anymore and I don't really care. Now would you butt out? It's rude to judge other people when you don't even know them." I said going back to my lunch. Well, I guess you could call it lunch.

The woman said nothing but left and gave a warning to the children not come near me. That I would be a bad influence on their future. Bleh, like I give a crap. I think I did stick my tongue out at her back because Pops was laughing as they left.

He didn't question me about my parents and I thanked him for that. It wasn't something I wanted to talk about since right now, I was with my family. Yeah, that was what these guys were to me. I guess this was what I had been dreaming for. This family.

* * *

SaixPuppy: Hey SaixPuppy here and wanting to say hi... HI! yeah, this would have come up earlier but we had a power outage. STUPID THUNDERSTORM! It was fun to watch though.  
Ace: So, why am I here?  
*Jumps back* Me: When did you get here Ace!  
Ace: Umm, when you started the story chapter. You forgot to do an introduction.  
Me: Oh, yeah, whoops. Anyway I had fun writing this. I want to have a drinking contest too, but I'm even younger than Youko so it is still going to be a few more years. BOOOOOO!  
Ace: Want to have one with me?  
*looks around* Me: What my sister won't know, won't hurt me.  
*Both runs off to have a drinking contest.*


	6. It Keeps Going On

Like A Boy

Chapter 5 It Keeps Going on

**"We don't think that the water caused her to lose consciousness. Like you said, she is a very good swimmer. The people also said that she was able to get out of the water but as soon as the whirlpool disappeared, she lost conscious. It isn't normal and she has been in a coma for a month now."**

**The man scratched the back of his head and stared at the girl who was lying in the hospital bed. She had a peaceful look on her face. As if she was just sleeping. They had a breathing device attached to her face because her breathing was too shallow. He hadn't seen the girl in a while and barely recognized her.**

**She had cut that long oak brown hair boy short and died it a non-natural color. The new glasses she had needed were lying on the table next to the bed in which she was in a coma.**

**They had gotten a call while they were in South Africa saying that their daughter was hospitalized and that they were needed. Both he and his wife left from where they were filming and came back. They didn't rush or anything. Got on a plane or two and comfortably came back to California. They found their daughter in a coma and her blissful face.**

**Nothing seemed wrong with her and the copper haired woman wanted to go back to filming her new movie. The graying hair of her husband kept bobbing into her mirror as she fixed her make up once again. The girl was such a troublesome child. What was her name again? Na-something, no.**

**It was what the nurse just said. Yes that was it. That was what they had called her. When she was still their daughter. The man started to walk to the door and she stood up and followed. The nurse didn't stop them, just let them go. **

**"A damn spoiled brat and making us come all the way back here." The man said as his wife wrapped an arm around his.**

**"It can't be helped. She was always such a problem." The woman said and they exited the large building.**

* * *

I sneezed and then looked at the fishing pole in front of me. Ace was sitting next to me.

"You catching a cold?" Marco asked leaning against the railing as I rubbed my nose.

"Idiots don't catch colds." Ace retorted. I sent him a look and continued to concentrate on the water in front of me. We were getting nothing.

"Shut up." I said getting irritated. Once again one of the guys got at my stuff and found some of my tests. That had been very embarrassing. Ace was still laughing at my poor skills at the subjects. It wasn't like I failed the classes. I just didn't pass them with the highest scores.

Okay fine, I'm stupid but I can swim and he can't. That should count as something.

"Man, there is no way we can catch anything." Ace said dropping the fishing pole and leaning back utterly bored. I looked at him and sighed. This was really boring.

We had gotten food from the winter island, but we still needed more. We were a large crew and I learned fast from Ace and Teach that D's eat a lot. More than Pops sometimes. That is scary. Usually the two of them get their own table of food.

"Maybe you should go in with a harpoon and snag something." Ace said looking up at me with a grin.

"I can barely drag your sorry ass up to the surface. You expect me to be able drag a large harpoon _and _whatever I happen to find?" I asked looking at him as if he was nuts.

"Yes." Ace said simply. I frowned at him and went back to looking at the water.

"Ace, unlike you, I'm don't have some stupid monstrous strength." I said going back to fishing with the pole.

"Well now's a good time to train."

Before I could say anything, Ace had thrusted me into the water with the harpoon that just happened to be next to him. I'm gonna hurt whoever decided on that. The sudden throw surprised me so I had to quickly go to the surface to get air.

I gasped at the surface and looked up at Ace and Marco. Ace had a rather pleased look on his face and Marco's face was somewhat sympathetic. "I'm gonna kill you for that Ace!" I hollered up at the man. The black haired man began to laugh and I was about to head towards the ship but Marco stopped me.

"We kinda need the harpoon." He said with an 'I'm sorry' smile.

I opened my mouth but closed it and took a deep breath. I dived into the water and started to head deeper into the Grandline. Marco had said that I was probably the only person in the world who could enjoy swimming in the sea. I said I had to do it so much because of Ace having his narcoleptic fits while on the railing.

I swam deeper until I noticed the large metal beam thing stuck on a rock. I thanked Kami-sama for making it a hell of a lot easier on me. Well almost easier on me. There was still the problem with the actual weight of the thing and dragging it back up to the ship. At least my clothes weren't going to get in my way.

I stopped wearing shoes. They were getting in the way especially since I was in the water almost every day thanks to my fire friend and his inability to stay on the ship. I was wearing regular cargos similar to Ace's and I pretty much just dropped the shirt. I liked loose and baggy shirts but in the water they are very restricting so I usually go around in chest binding or a black bikini top. When you are around pirates, you learn that shame isn't something you need. Right now I'm wearing the bikini top.

I went down and stopped in front of the harpoon. Its shiny color was what made it stand out against the black rock that it was on. A small amount of chain was attached to the end. I grabbed the links closest to the harpoon so that it didn't swing and hook anything and me.

Well, not that I was going to have to worry about that. The thing was so damn heavy. I could barely even lift it up. How the hell did Ace expect me to bring it to the ship? If we hadn't weighed anchor by now the ship would be out of sight. I could feel the familiar burning feeling grow in my chest and throat and knew that I had to hurry. But damn this thing was heavy.

* * *

"She's been down there for a while." Ace said staring at the water's surface bored. Bubbles would come up every now and then a little ways off from the ship which meant she was still alive, probably.

"Maybe she's having trouble with the harpoon." Marco said looking down as well. Some of the nurses had come over and were watching the surface with them. Pops looked over at the small group but went back to drinking. If needed the girl would come up for air and then go back down again. This could be good training for her.

"Maybe she encountered a sea king." Lee said looking at the water and for her blue haired friend. Marco shrugged. It was an option. But he hoped it wasn't.

A frown formed on Ace's face as he stared down at the surface. A fair amount of bubbles had shown up at the spot where they had last seen them. He quickly backed up as something was thrown onto the ship and a hand appeared on the railing.

* * *

I took in a deep breath as water began to splash around me. I knew that the harpoon was on the ship and that I was on it too, but the chain was still attached to my ankle and that thing was still after me. I tried to grip onto the railing better but the water was trying to get me back into the ocean.

There was a high pitched scream and a few gasps. I myself was gasping but more from the lack of air and extreme fright from the sea king that was following me. I could feel a hand grab the upper part of my arm and grip hard as the water began to splash hard again. This time it wasn't the water that made me lose my grip but something large hitting me in the back. For a few seconds all I saw was white and blood began to form in my mouth. Whoever had grabbed be didn't let go and was able to drag me up on to the ship.

I was continuing to gasp for air. I could feel myself be placed against the side of the ship. I opened my eyes and saw that I was face to face with Ace. The pyro had a concerned look on his face. I lifted my arm slowly and jutted my thumb to the ocean and more water sprayed onto us.

"We're eating it." I said it in more of a demand than a question. This made Ace smile and he helped me to my feet. I was a little shaky at first but was able to keep my balance without falling on my ass.

As I did this the rather large sea king had been caught and was currently being sliced so that it could be cooked. I shook my head and water droplets went everywhere. Marco and Ace covered their faces as I did this and complained a bit. I just smiled at this.

"I told you, you could get that harpoon out. And you brought us some food." Ace said putting an arm across my shoulders.

"So I was bait?" I asked him casually. I needed to get changed.

"Yup." Ace said it with no denying in his voice. I smiled and walked to the door that led to where I slept. I could feel Ace's stare as I walked away. Usually that comment would leave him with a good sized welt in his head. I turned and stuck my tongue out at him.

* * *

"You sure you're fine?"

Lee had followed me towards my room. I didn't mind. It was either her being a good friend or because she was a nurse. I smiled and nodded. I was little shaken from the whole affair but I had decided that I would do the best I could and try not to get in anyone's way.

She followed me into my room and I opened one of the drawers in my room and pulled out a new pair of clothes. I got changed and began to dry my hair on my bed. Lee came and sat next to me.

"Ace was really worried about you when you all of a suddenly came out and were gripping onto the ship like that." She said looking at the ceiling and casually swinging her legs back and forth. I looked at her, the towel still on my head.

"What do you mean?" I asked her. I couldn't exactly remember what happened. I had seen the sea king come after me and thought of nothing but getting the hell out of there. That was what got my ankle caught. Now that I think about it, how did my foot get out of the chain?

"Well, you threw up the harpoon somehow and were clinging to the side of the ship." The woman began and I sat and listened. "Ace noticed you first because the sea king came up at the same time and covered everyone with water. Apparently you must have had a pretty desperate look because he quickly grabbed you and didn't let go."

I sat and listened trying to imagine what happened in my head. Lee kept going. "You were almost up on the railing; you had only your arms on before. The sea king decided to dive and as it did so, its tail rammed in to making you lose your grip. Ace was able to pull you up and you were barely conscious."

I slowly brought my hand to my mouth and ran across it. I looked at the towel. The water must have wiped away the blood that I had tasted earlier. Lee looked at me and I noticed her stare. I waved my hands gesturing for her to continue the story.

"Your ankle was caught in the chain but Ace was able to break it to get you out. You were breathing though it was more like gasping for air to my ears. Ace never took his eyes off of you. He seemed so relieved when you opened your eyes and made that joke about eating the sea king."

I looked at her and grinned. "That wasn't a joke." I said standing up and placing the towel on the back of the small chair in my room. "I want to eat that fish." I could hear her laugh as I walked out the made my way towards the stairs.

At dinner that night I sat with Ace and the guys like usual. Every now and then I would sit with Lee and we would talk with the nurses. Girl talk which I was getting better and better at. Maybe I shouldn't be too thrilled about that. Oh well, it felt nice.

I sat next to Ace and Thatch sat on my other side. The man was nudging me and joking about my good 'catch'. I smiled and looked at Ace.

"Thanks." I said before taking a bite of the meat.

"Huh?" Ace asked looking at me.

"I said thanks for saving me earlier." I said not looking at him. I caught Ace smiling out of the corner of my eye and something heavy grabbed on to me.

"What the…!"

"Heh, you make good bait little Princess." Ace had me in a head lock. I looked up at him questioning the name. He smiled down at me and began to laugh at the face I gave him.

"Here." Marco handed me a piece of paper from across the table. Ace had let go of my arm lock so that I could get it. On it was a picture of me.

I was sitting on a piece of wood that was floating in the water. I was smiling up at the person taking the picture and was sticking my tongue out. I recognized the wood as part of the rudder of a marine ship from a few days ago. They had come out of nowhere and Ace and I were told to deal with them.

_*I like Flashbacks*_

_"Bet I can bet you there." Ace said to. I rolled my eyes and sat on the rail. The man looked at me confused._

_"Unlike you, I can't just jump over to them. I have to swim to get to the ships." I said diving into the sea. _

_There were only about five ships but they had had the nerve to shoot at us. Pops being Pops said that they weren't worth all of us going over and asked Ace to see what I could do. Apparently the highest rank on the ship was a captain tanked soldier._

_I swam underwater but didn't fail to notice Ace flying over head towards the ship. His flames were dancing on the waves and I laughed inwardly. The ships weren't that far since we had decided t anchor and that they got really close before firing. Not that the cannonballs did anything. Vista had easily gotten rid of them._

_I took a breath as I got to the side of the ship. None of the sailors on board had noticed me. They were too busy with Pyro to notice me. Besides they probably wouldn't think that anyone other than mermen were stupid enough to swim in the Grandline. Well I am stupid enough._

_I swam to the back of the ship that I was near and looked at the rudder. It was a rather large piece of wood that was securely bolted to the back of the ship. So I wasn't going to be able to unbolt it, but I could break it off. I'm not a monster in strength, but how hard could swinging a mallet at a piece of wood be?_

_It broke off easier than I thought it would. This however did attract attention to me. The piece of wood floated and I kicked to the opposite side of the ship from where I had come from leaving the view of the Moby Dick. _

_"OVER HERE!" I hollered up to the ship. Just my luck, I picked the ship with the captain. The man looked down at me and I grinned and waved back. I was sitting on the rudder casually running my feet into the water._

_The captain ordered them to fire at me. I dove into the water as they fired. That had been to close. The rudder I was on splintered into thousands of pieces and I barely dodged the sinking iron balls. I broke to the surface and swung my fist at the captain._

_"THAT SCARED ME STUPID MARINE!" I heard Ace laughed and turned to see him sitting on the railing of one of the other ships. The rest of them were on fire and sinking. _

_"Your slow Youko." He told me and I casually swam to one of the larger pieces of surviving wood. The captain was looking in between us as I easily lifted myself onto the wood._

_"Well sorry, but I'm not a monster like I've been telling you. Besides, I got the rudder off and I found the captain." I said pointing to the man who was becoming red from us ignoring him. _

_"KILL THEM!" _

_Before the crew had a chance to actually do this however the ship jerked. I smiled as it began to move farther away. Soon I could see part of the Moby Dick. I waved good bye to the captain and noticed a man pointing a camera at me. I stuck my tongue out before diving in and heading towards the ship Ace was on._

_"Enjoy the whirlpool." I said as I climbed up onto the burning ship. The one Ace was on wasn't going to get sucked in by the current._

_"How do you know they're headed for a whirlpool?" ace asked me as the boat began to spin._

_"I felt the current." I said as the ship began to spin around the gush of water. Ace smiled and high fived me before jumping in the direction of the Moby Dick. I followed._

_*END ^^*_

"Ocean Princess Youko, what the hell?" I asked looking at the name they had given me. Ocean Child was hard enough but now Princess. This world really seemed to have it out for me.

"Yeah, so that means you Youhime Youko." Ace said taking the bounty and laughing. I took it back and looked at it. I hadn't actually seen the price on my head.

"Sixty million beris?" I said reading it. "Is that a lot?"

"In the New World that is pretty week, but you're a rookie and it's your first bounty so I say it's pretty good." Marco said with a small smile. I looked at the poster and smiled.

"EHH!" I looked at my plate. "ACE I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU… DON'T FALL ASLEEP WHEN I'M YELLING AT YOU!"

I'm wanted now huh? This world keeps getting fun.

* * *

I really need to stop getting into teh Dr. Pepper really late at night. Though I did right this in teh afternoon... Well that was the reason behind the crack nickname. For those of you who don't know, You means Ocean and Hime means Princess. Ace was being retarded and combined them together. I didn't want to make Youko's bounty too high so sixty million worked.

Ace is beggining to worry about Youko more and I hope I didn't make her parents too much of dick heads. I really don't want Youko to turn into a Mary Sue. Also I figured that she should have some sort of fear but I can't think of any good one that could be hilarious and or beneficial. Earthquakes don't count because they just make Youko nervous. They also don't pop up at reasonable times without it seeming like ti is unnatural. So if you guys have any ideas, please tell me.

I hope it wasn't too confusing with the whole out of Youko's POV. I tried my hardest to use the lines to represent the breaks. To make it less confuing, it won't be in anyones point of view when Youko isn't around. I htink you call that third person. I suck at the grammer names. My dad wants me to tske creeative writing courses though. Well, I'll put teh real world in bold so that that is less confusing as well. See you with my next chapter uodate 3.


	7. Party Time

Like A Boy

Chapter 6 Party Time:

I have been with the Whitebeards and have been in this world for about two months now. What happens here is becoming more and more real. I'm beginning to think that the world I came from is just a dream that I had made up and that this is where I belong. But every time I see that picture of me and my parents from when I was little, I realize the bittersweet truth. This world that I'm in right now just might be a dream.

That was the thought that has been going through my head. Maybe this was one of those dreams that you know that you are dreaming. Though I'm not exactly sure. But if this was a dream, then why wasn't it over yet? Why have I been getting these different feelings and I have gotten hurt and I've been cold. Why? I looked up at the ceiling of my room.

I traced the grain lines in the wood with my eyes and stared at the picture I was making. The faces that were appearing: Ace and his freckled face, Marco with his half-caring expression, Lee and her baby face that was crowned with red locks and Pops who was grinning at me. I smiled slightly and closed my eyes. A single tear ran down the side of my cheek. The first real one in so long. I quickly wiped it away. What the hell was I crying for? I mean, I'm not leaving this place yet.

No not 'yet', ever.

I stood up and walked out the door and headed to the deck. I had to cover my eyes as the sun began to blare down at me. I walked over to where Lee and a few other nurses were talking. They were at a table that was near the railing. I smiled and said good morning before looking down at the flyer that they were looking at.

"What is it?" I asked looking down at the thing. It was rather fancy and showed a picture of a nice looking house.

"A party that is going to be held at the city that is on this island. The man who lives in the mansion is throwing a large ball and anyone's invited. You just have to dress right." Lee said happily handing me the thing.

I looked at it and handed it back. The whole fancy party gig wasn't my gig. Especially if there was a dress code. I am not getting into any dress whatsoever. Though it seemed that Lee and the other nurses weren't going to let me back out.

"Pops said that we can go, why don't you come?" Lee asked looking at me happily.

"No." I said flatly before walking over to where Ace was sitting. I at next to him and he nudged me in the arm.

"Why not?" he asked me. I looked at him surprised that he would even think about it.

"I don't know how to dance and I've never worn a dress except when I was really little and I kinda had no choice." I said looking away. The very thought of these guys seeing me in a dress made me shiver.

"What's wrong Princess, scared of going to the ball?" Ace said teasing me once again with the name the marines had decided for me. I growled at him before rejecting the offer. I was not going to go to the dance. Ace kept prodding me though. What was with him and wanting me to go to this dance?

"You aren't going so why are you prodding me to go?" I asked with a smile. Ace stopped poking me in the arm when I had ignored him and stared at me.

"No reason, just feel like teasing you." Ace said looking away. I could hear Marco chuckle a bit and I leaned forward to try and get a look at Ace's face. He kept looking away from me but I didn't fail to catch a glimpse of red. Why was he blushing?

"Come on tell me…" I said nudging Ace. The man didn't budge though. He kept looking away and muttered 'no' under his breath. "Mo, all you do is tease me Pyro, why is it his time you seem to be more distant about it?"

Ace looked at me with an opened mouth but then closed it when he saw my smiling face. I got him to look at me. That was what I had planned on doing. He realized that and looked away.

"You did not win." He said flatly. This time I knew the red on his cheeks was from embarrassment of being tricked. I was about to say something else but Lee had decided take the opportunity to cut in.

"Come on Youko, come with us to look at dresses at least." The red head asked grabbing my arm. I looked up at her with a 'I don't wanna' look but she kept pulling me towards the stairs that led off the ship.

"I don't like shopping…"

* * *

The nurses had dragged me to town and were currently bringing me to every store they could find. Like all other women in the city who were going, they were giddy and excited. Half of them had already chosen out a dress and were looking for accessories and shoes. I myself was being dragged around by the wrist by Lee. Man the nurse was strong. Probably came from having to deal with the pirates as they tried to resist treatment.

Since I was determined not to buy anything and not to go to this little dance I decided to be nice and carry all the crap the nurses bought. This happened to be a lot. I already had at least twenty bags and five boxes. Thanks to the constant swimming and random pirate attacks, my muscles have become harder.

I wasn't getting buff or starting to get muscles like Ace, but I was getting stronger. It was happening slowly though. Random getting thrown over with a harpoon, out swimming sea kings which have decided that I am now a good lunch, and saving anyone who can't swim when they fall over board. These things have helped strengthen my arms and legs, along with the occasional shopping trip with the nurses. That probably gave me the most training.

For the first few weeks I had had trouble with my vision. My glasses were lost and everything had been blurry, I was still able to see, but I needed glasses. I never got any however. My eyes eventually evened out and I was able to see clearer. My vision was almost perfect from before I even needed glasses. Now the thing disturbing my vision was the boxes that I was carrying.

Lee led me to a bench and we sat down and relaxed. The others had gone into a perfume shop but Lee denied going in. she wasn't too much a fan of the stuff. I thanked Kami-sama for giving me a break from walking. Even if I was used to it, I still needed to stop and take a breather every now and then.

"Why don't you want to come?" Lee asked. I looked at her not exactly getting what she meant.

"Why aren't you coming to the dance? We can get you a really adorable dress and make you look all pretty." The woman said leaning closer to me with sparkling eyes and an eager smile.

"Like I said before, dances aren't my thing and I'm used to hanging around you guys, but being with a bunch of total strangers, that will make me feel uncomfortable." I said looking at the sky and sighing. "I also hate dresses."

"Ace would like to see you in a dress…"

"HAH!" I quickly sat up from my slouching position and looked at her as if she was crazy. Once again.

"How the hell do you know that?" I asked trying to calm down. I could feel heat come up to my face with that comment. What was I doing blushing at a comment like that?

"It was obvious with how he was acting this morning when we were talking about it." She said looking at me with a smile. What was this girl getting at?

"Ace was just messing with me." I said not admitting it. That was what he was doing right? I mean that's all we ever do, mess with each other. Right?

"I agree with Lee."

I looked up to see the other nurses. They were all carrying bags and smiling down at us. I groaned and lee grabbed my arms as we continued to another dress shop. I was ordered to put the stuff with them as Lee dragged me around the store.

"We are getting you a dress and you are going to the dance."

* * *

I stared at the nurses as they began to put on their makeup and do their hair. I just sat and watched. How dare they drag me in here and Lee even picked out a dress for me. Not that I would be wearing it. I glanced slightly at the bag which it was in and then back at the nurses.

Lee was already in her dressed in dress. It was a red and tight and went down to her knees. It was sleeveless and that went from her chest and all the way down to right below her belly button. She had red pumps that matched the dress and next to her on the counter were elbow length black gloves.

She was putting dark red lip gloss on her lips and noticed my stare. She turned and smiled at me. I smiled a nervous smile back. When she was done with her makeup, she put her hair up in a messy bun and looked at me.

"Okay Youko, your turn to get into a dress." She said. I groaned and looked up at her with a pout. I really didn't want to put it on. "Now."

I grumbled and pulled the thing out of the bag that had the emblem of the store that we got it at. The accessories that I was supposedly going to where were underneath the fabric. I held it in front of me and looked at the others who were staring at me with anticipation.

"How do you stick this thing on again?"

* * *

Ace glanced at the door when he heard it open. He remembered the look Youko had had when they had comeback meaning the nurses had gotten her to buy a dress. He wanted to see her in it.

Why exactly was because he wanted to. Maybe he could tease her a bit. Youko would always make the best expressions when he would tease her. She could be so funny. He never regretted actually joining the crew, but ever since Youko had come, he was happier. The girl always made things interesting and she was a smartass sometimes. Blunt, but still fun.

The nurses came out and some of the men whistled at them. Some were wearing rather revealing outfits. Lee was pulling on an arm and Ace recognized it as Youko's arm and sat up to get a better view. The red head was finally able to pull the girl into view.

Youko was looking away from every person and was slightly glancing at the deck. Her hair was up in a messy pony tail and had a white flower clip in it. The girl had been surprised when her hair was getting longer and staying the color she had said she dyed it. A small blush was present on her face. The nurses had somehow been able to get a light shade of makeup on her.

The dress they had picked was loose and sleeveless if you didn't count two thin strands on diamond that attached to the white sash on the top of the dress that went to her right arm. The dress itself was a medium blue. On her right leg in the front, the dress went down into two different directions making like a mountain shaped cut at the bottom. The left side of the dress went into a small bead shaped orb that was the color of the ocean.

She was wearing gray-blue thigh length socks and soft blue shoes that had a blue rose and small chains that matched the ones on the dress. A choker was around her neck. It was three strands of gold chain that went from tight to loose and on the right side was a blue rose that matched the orb. The blush seemed to stay on her face.

"That looks good." The fire user could here Marco whisper to Thatch. The other man grunted an agreement. Ace could feel the heat rise in his cheeks as he stared at the girl.

* * *

I didn't want to look up. This was so embarrassing. Why did I have to do this? I knew that the guys were also staring at the other nurses but I could feel Ace's stare on me. Why did I feel so weird having him stare at me like this?

"Yosh, let's go!" Lee said hooking her arm into mine. I looked up at her and sweat dropped. She as excited.

"You boys aren't going dressed like that." One of the nurses said pointing at the pirates before her. They looked at her with an, we ain't going look. This made the nurses raise an eyebrow.

"You guys are so going." Another said. "We need dates and you guys have the honor of being them."

"We ain't going to no dance." Ace said crossing his arms in front of him. My turn.

"If I'm stuck going than you boys better damn right suck it up and come to." I said looking at them with a frown. "Or are all of you all just scared to dance with a girl. I thought pirates were supposed to be the man among men."

That got them. They all were taken aback at first but then stood up and tried to prove that they were men. The nurses grinned at me and began to instruct them on what to wear. I pointed at the three men staring at me.

"That goes for you guys too." Ace, Marco and Thatch stared at me in disbelief. "I have to go so, so do you." I crossed my arms and looked at me.

Thatch and Marco nodded and headed towards the nurses who were ordering the men on what to wear. Pops want helping them saying that he wanted them to go because he didn't wasn't his daughters at this party alone. Ace stared at me as if challenging me to try and get him to go. I raised an eyebrow and continued to stare at him. The stares turned into glares and we kept at it. Only one of us was going to win.

"Can we leave now?" I looked around the mansion ball room. It was held in the main part of the house and some people were on the stairs that led to the second part of the house. We were near the entrance and all I could see were people.

"We just got here." Lee said looking at me. I sighed and looked the men. They were actually acting like gentlemen and dancing with the nurses who were defiantly enjoying themselves.

Ace was pulling at the color of the red shirt that he was told to wear. He had black pants and dress shoes along with a black tie. Marco and Thatch were wearing similar outfits except that Marco's was blue and he had an over coat while Thatch's shirt was a dark green. I tugged at the top of my dress and stared at the rest of the said party. The four of us really didn't want to be here.

* * *

Am I updating too quickly. Tell me if I am. I am a very impatient person and am really bored because it's summer and my friends are usually busy. Well here's teh next story anyway. I got the idea from a game that I was playing. I hope I'm not making Youko seem too naive. I think she's getting it a bit. I mean, she is embarrassed when Ace was staring at her in the dress and when Lee was talking to her about Ace... I'm sorry that might be wrong. Well, I am going to keep this going. I have na idea for a flash back and two future events. Those will come eventually. I don't know when. however. I'm still trying to figure them out. Until next time.


	8. Personal Space

Like A Boy

Chapter 7 Personal Space:

Mostly the four of us stayed near the food table. The food was actually pretty good, but someone had to make sure Ace didn't devour it all. Thatch did disappear on us at one time when he saw a girl and he went to ask her to dance. I myself was rather uncomfortable with the whole affair. Marco wasn't complaining but you could tell he didn't like it either.

Ace had almost outright taken off his shirt and left it like that. Lee and I had to force him to keep it on. We all loved to show off our mark and pride, but if people were to see it, the whole party would be in chaos thinking they were under attack by pirates. Though the chaos might be kinda fun. You never know until you actually see it. Why did I help keep the shirt on again?

"Ace, at least be descent." Marco said as the man stuck another piece of chicken in his mouth.

"These things are way too tiny." Ace said holding up the finger sized snack. I had to agree.

"That's because here, the ladies like to stay paper thin and the gentlemen aren't pigs." I said crossing my arms and looking at the scene before me.

Women were twirling around in their skimpy dresses showing the boys everything they got. Some were showing off a little more than others and others were just being refined. Men were asking girls who were giggling hysterically. I sighed and grabbed a piece of chicken off the plate and ate it. Ace complained saying that I took his food.

"It's for everyone you idiot." I said looking around the rather large mansion and finally gave up on standing and grabbed one of the chairs by the wall. Marco was able to pry Ace from the food table and they sat by me, neither wanting to dance.

"I hate this type of event. All they do is care about their looks and judge you on how famous you are and how much money you have." I said leaning forward and putting my head in my hands. Very un-ladylike in these people's standards but I don't really care.

"You seem to know a lot about fancy parties." Marco noted as I sighed and leaned back to stare at the marble ceiling.

"My parent attended and hosted a bunch of them and I prayed to Kami-sama that I wasn't invited." I said still looking at the ceiling and the mural that was on the center. "I was lucky most of the time, but my parents never really cared what I thought about them."

_*Flashback*_

_"But I don't like the dress and the parties are stupid and the people are mean." I said in my little seven year old voice. A year went by after that incident and my parents were getting sick of me._

_My mother harshly grabbed my cheeks and glared at me. "I don't care what you say and these people are adults. An idiotic brat like you wouldn't understand. Now get in the dress and get your ass downstairs in ten minutes." She said letting go. I stayed where I was standing as she slammed my door rubbing my sore cheeks._

_I looked at the pink thing that was resting on my bed. The temptation to throw it out the window was over powering but I knew mother wouldn't like it. I lifted the fluffy, girly thing up and grimaced. I didn't want to wear such a disgusting thing._

_I sighed and quickly put it on along with the tights and Mary Janes that were bought just for the occasion. I walked down the long staircase in my house and looked at my mother who was putting on very expensive jewelry and makeup. She looked at me and tossed me a pink ribbon. I was to put it in my hair._

_I frowned but went over to the mirror and quickly tied it in. I hated this sort of stuff so why the heck could I put it in right? My father walked into the living room saying that we needed to get going and ushered me out to the car. As soon as we got out the paparazzi were flashing camera. _

_My mom made a quick pose before getting into the car. Father seemed a little less enthusiastic about them and just got into the vehicle. I opened my door and got in. The men and women surrounding us tried to get my picture but I sank into the seat and disappeared from sight. Mother got in and looked at me a smile._

_"Why don't you want your picture taken?" she asked me bitterly. I frowned and looked away. This kept her from asking any further. _

_The drive wasn't long and we got to the party on time. As soon as we were in my parents almost shoved me to the other kids my age. I looked at them and their smiling faces before turning away. I didn't want to have anything to do with them. They ignored me as well._

_I found a quiet corner and stayed in it throughout the dance. I guess this is what they would call an emo corner because I felt really out of place in this party and I felt better in the corner._

_*End*_

"An emo corner?" Ace asked raising his eyebrow at me.

"Yes, I am probably the only little girl who would crawl into one while wearing a puffy pink dress." I shivered at the thought of the things my mother made me wear. This dress was almost heaven compared to it. Almost.

"You going to crawl into one here?" Marco asked. I looked at him and smiled.

"Nope, I have no reason to." I said looking at them. "I actually have people I like and can talk to here." Ace wrapped an arm around my shoulders and looked at the dance floor.

"And a floor that you can dance on." He said a small amount of joking in his voice.

"I told you I can't dance." I said but Ace grabbed my hand and lifted me out of the chair easily.

"I'll show you." He said leading me away. I looked back at Marco.

"How does he know how to ball room dance?" the man just shrugged and waved good bye from where he sat. That was a lot of help.

Ace brought me a little ways into the crowd before stopping and grabbing my hand in a better grip. He put one hand around my waist and forced me to move a little closer to him. I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks and I began a little panic.

"Put your hand one my shoulder." The black haired man said with a small smile. I looked at him with a little scared look in my eyes but carefully brought my free hand to his shoulder. "Right, now follow my steps."

I looked at the ground and watched where Ace stepped and followed. I knew that I was using that as an excuse so that I didn't have to look at his face. I could feel a small chuckle rise in his chest.

"I thought you didn't want to dance." I said before he had a chance to speak. Pyro looked at me since I had decided to look up.

"I thought it would be fun to see what you could do." Ace said. He couldn't hide the small redness on his face with that smile. I noticed it.

"Okay, so you're messing with me, but how do you know how to ballroom dance?" I asked feeling a little annoyed. This was embarrassing and I prayed Lee and the other nurses didn't see me.

"Don't think this is the only dance we've attended." Ace said looking at my shocked face with a chuckle. I looked back at the floor when I realized that I had been staring. This caused my feet to tumble over his and I fell forward against Ace's chest. I felt more heat rise in my face and I quickly sat up again.

"What, you don't like leaning against me?" Ace asked moving a little closer. His voice was confident but a little unsteady. Almost like he was embarrassed to say it and move closer to me.

"Ever heard of personal space?" I asked back this time looking at him square in the eye.

"That's that thing where you don't want others in it because it makes you feel uncomfortable, right?" he asked messing with me a bit.

"Yes." I answered swiftly and the orchestra changed to song. This one was a little faster. The men went onto one side and the girls on the other. I stared right across from Ace. This song was one that I knew.

When the beat came, we went forward and the men twirled their partner making them go to the side they had been on. "Then I guess I'll just make you feel as uncomfortable as can be." Ace whispered into my ear as we passed each other. I wanted to frown and snap back but we were already too far apart. Instead I grinned.

This time the gentlemen stepped forward and did a slight bow with a hand out in an offering for a dance. I heard a slap as I took the hand. Someone got dumped. Ace brought my hand above our heads like the rest and my face was inches from him. That was probably due to more of the height difference because others were much closer.

"I'd like to see you try." I challenged as I stepped back. Damn trying to fit in here was difficult. This dance was rather embarrassing too. I caught a glimpse of Lee and a few of the other nurses out of the corner of my eye. They seemed to be enjoying themselves quite a bit.

Ace brought me back and my back was against his chest. He bent down a bit to whisper in my ear. "I will." He promised. His breath was warm on my neck and I could feel more heat rise to my already blushing cheeks. Mo, this man was really getting to me.

I turned and was now facing Ace. The man was smiling down at me and I could still see the small streak of a blush go across his freckled face. The dance stopped and we parted. The orchestra took a break and people stopped dancing to chat. I followed Ace back to the chairs we had claimed.

"Have fun?" Marco asked looking at us with his half assed smile.

"Ah, shut up." I said sitting down next to him. I had grabbed a cup of whatever that punch they were was. Ace sat on the other side of me and put his arm across the back of my seat.

"Princess here is a fast learner." He said as I took a sip of the bubbly drink.

"Blech." I said sticking my tongue out at the stuff. Ace looked at it and grabbed the cup taking a swig. He made the same face I did and handed it to Marco. The man took a sip and put the cup down on the seat next to him.

"I think it is either champagne or wine." He said wiping his mouth as if trying to wipe away the taste.

"So it's not a good tasting liquor?" I suggested noticing Lee and a few of the nurses come over to us.

"It's that rich fancy crap that nobles buy." Ace said looking up at the other women. I preferred grog.

"Oh, you and Ace looked so good dancing together." Lee said jumping up and down slightly. I smiled half heartedly and prayed she wouldn't say more.

"It's getting close to morning, we should probably head back." Thatch said coming up behind the group. "The other guys already ditched and headed back."

"Cheaters." I mumbled under my breath. Ace started to laugh and Marco chuckled. We stood up and headed towards the doors that led to the outside. We didn't get far before we heard a furious scream.

"WHO THE HELL PUT A CUP OF WINE ON THIS SEAT!" a woman hollered loudly. People stared at her and I could Marco say 'oops'.

"I guess it was wine." I said with a smile. Marco lightly pushed my back.

"Let's go." He said not wanting to deal with the woman's wrath. "Hell had no fury like a woman's scorn."

I laughed at the last part and we quickly walked out of the mansion and down the large steps.

The cool night air was welcome after being in the suffocating ballroom. The streets were empty and the only thing that lit it up was the occasional street lights. The only noises came from stray animals and occasional drunk laughter. My feet were becoming sore from the little dancing I had actually done.

"That was soo much fun." Lee said happily coming up between me and Ace. I rolled my eyes; it wasn't exactly my definition of fun. Lee noticed my look and got a questioning look on her face. "What kind of parties do you find fun?"

"On the ridge style." I said simply. Ace looked at me confused.

"Bonfire and no dress code. Usually country music is played and all you do is have fun and drink." I said simply, "Most of the time it's on a hill or in a field so they're called on the ridge parties."

"I like those kinds. It sounds similar to what we do, except that we listen to pirate music." Ace said with a grin.

"Music is music." I said happily before yawning.

"Eh, the little princess is now sleeping beauty?" Ace said in a teasing manner. I glared at him.

"I'm just tired of all your teasing." I said leaning over and glaring at him. Ace followed up and Lee shrank in the background. She reappeared by the other nurses. Marco was laughing as Ace and I continued our little stare down. Somehow we were able to do this while walking.

* * *

Pops was waiting for everyone back at the ship. He was casually drinking in his usual chair as we boarded the ship. We were talking about random things and not really in any solid conversation when we got back. As soon as we were on the ship, I sat on the deck and denied moving. Ace sat next to me and agreed.

"What about sleep?" Marco asked us.

"Sleeping on the deck never hurt anybody." Ace said simply. I pulled of my shoes and socks and stretched my toe.

"And if it rains?" Lee prompted. Ace stayed quiet.

"When has rain ever killed anyone?" I asked looking at them. Marco mumbled something inaudible. "Besides, I don't smell any rain."

"Smell?"Ace questioned. I looked at him and nodded.

"The air gets a certain smell when it's about to rain." I said simply. Ace looked at me and smiled.

"Maybe you can learn navigation or something." Ace said looking up at Marco. The man shrugged.

"It's worth a try." He said. I looked up at him with a 'huh' expression. It turned from sleeping out on the deck to this.

"Yosh, tomorrow, you learn navigation." Ace said collapsing onto the deck.

"Quite deciding for me!" I said hitting the sleeping man on the head. Ace didn't move and everyone else went to their bedrooms. I could have gotten up, but I was tired and decided to stay where I was.

* * *

EMO CORNER... I always wanted to add that to a story. I am not a fancy person and I hate the whole party thing so that one dance was something that came up the top of my head. I have no idea as to why I added the country music but everyone on my mom's side of the family listens to it so I guess you could say I listen to it and am more of a country girl than anyhting else. I'm definatly not a city person and am always uncomfortable in anything nicer than a pair of skinny jeans. That is why me and my sister agree that the day I willingly buy a dress, she does her own homework and our friend Phillip isn't blamed for everything is the day the world shall end.


	9. I Disappear and a Competition

Like A Boy

Chapter 8 I Disappear and a Not So Friendly Competition:

Marco opened a door that would lead him to the main deck and walked out into the early morning sunlight. He usually didn't get up this early but something had and then he realized that it was because of Ace and Youko. At least he knew that Ace had never moved but he wasn't sure about the smaller girl. He walked along the top platform that circled the main part of the deck where they usually spent their days. He noticed the still sleeping figures.

Ace was sleeping in pretty much the same position as he had the night before: arms wide open, on his back and straight. Youko was the one who had moved. She was curled up in a small ball, almost like how a cat would and was using Ace as a stomach pillow. Yeah, if the other guys were to see this they would never let her live it down.

Marco had become somewhat attached to the girl. She was almost like a little sister in some ways. She was curious about the new world around her and always pumped for things. She was scared pretty easily and had a habit of hiding behind either him or Ace when she found them. She would always ask him when she was confused and such. Little sister pretty much wrapped it up.

Ace had on his usual sleeping look with the snore bubble coming out of his nose and his usual goofy grin. Youko's mouth was partially opened in a small smile. She actually looked quite content in the position, but she doubted she wanted every person to see her in the dress and cuddling with Ace in the morning. He put his hand on the blue haired girl's shoulder and began to shake it, hoping she would wake up easily.

Youko did and she warily sat up and rubbed sleep out of her dark green eyes. They had been brown and green when she had first joined the crew, but now they were a solid forest green color. She sat up and looked at her friend who was kneeling in front of her.

* * *

"Morning." Marco said to me as I tried to get my bearings straight. I was on the deck, it was clearly early in the morning and no one was around. What the hell could be wrong?

"Why'd you wake me up?" I mumbled still not fully awake.

"Do you want to be seen sleeping with Ace and in that dress?" Marco asked helping me to my feet. I looked down at Pyro. He was still unaware of anything around him.

"No and I wasn't actually sleeping with him." I said glad now that he woke me up and didn't decide to tease me like Ace defiantly would have.

"Stomach pillow." Marco said as I began to walk towards the door leading to the nurses' chamber. It took a little while, but you learned where everything was in a ship this large.

"You tell no one." I ordered him. Marco put his hands up and smiled his usual half assed grin. I nodded and continued on my way.

* * *

**The phone rang in the rather large house that was positioned on a hill in California. The man who was watching TV grumbled and paused the show and picked it up. It had better damn not be some fan-girl who somehow got their number.**

**"Hello?" he asked not bothering giving his name. **

**Someone talked onto the other side of the phone. A woman walked into the sun filled living room wandering who had called. The man stayed silent only grunting an acknowledgment.**

**"What do you mean about my daughter?" he asked not exactly thrilled about being interrupted at all. The woman picked up the other phone to hear the conversation.**

**_"Well, it would seem that she… well the best way to say it is, well… she's disappearing." _****The doctor said in a shaky voice. The man's rough voice obviously scared him.**

**"You mean as in she's dying?" the man questioned. Why the hell didn't he just say it? They weren't emotional parents or such. **

**_"No, I mean she is literally beginning to vanish. Her body is starting to become transparent." _****The doctor sounded like he didn't believe it himself. The man looked at his wife who opened her mouth to speak.**

**"That is ludicrous, nobody just begins to vanish. You may be the best doctor in California but this is making you sound like a quake. Now good bye." She said slamming the phone down. Her husband put his down and turned on the TV once again and his wife went back to doing whatever it was that she was doing. They both completely forgot what had happened.

* * *

**

I came back out to the deck feeling a lot more comfortable then what I had the day before. Shorts were more my thing anyway. I took my usual spot next to Ace who didn't seem to be told of what had gone on that morning. I had gone back to bed for a few hours after words since Marco had taken the liberty to wake me up at six in the morning.

Ace was grinning as he saw me however. I looked at him questionably. "Time to teach you how to navigate." He said tossing me a log post. I caught it and looked at the small orb. The small compass inside was pointing in the direction that ship was facing.

"We already have skilled navigators, but sometimes others are sent out on solo jobs and it is as a precaution." Oyaji told me as I continued to stare at it.

"Okay… but why me?" I asked looking at Ace questionably.

"You said so yourself about the rain, plus you can predict the currents." Ace said happily. I looked at him and sighed.

"I have to be in the water to do that." I said with a small sigh. I did put the thing on however. It fit nicely and the wooden brace prevented it from slipping around too much. It turned slightly and so did the ship. This was the first time I really noticed it since I hadn't been staring at one before. Usually I never really noticed the ship's position moving at all.

"She needs to learn about sea chart and maps first." Marco said sitting down beside the black haired man.

I looked at him and inwardly groaned. I hated learning.

"Well, don't worry, your geography grades were the best you got, well, they were above a seventy." Ace said holding up a test that I took. I quickly snatched it and ripped it to shreds.

"Would you quite going through my stuff!" I said angry. How the hell were they still getting through my things? I heard some chuckles but most people were busy talking to their friends and such. The usual arguments between me and Ace had become normal I guess.

"Stingy." Ace said with a small pout.

"Nosy." I retorted back.

"Boy."

"Idiot."

"Flat chested shrimp."

"Pyromaniac anchor."

Yeah I'm pretty sure that that went on for quite some time. And like usual ended with us slamming our foreheads together and glaring at each other. That was how an argument between us usually ended now a days. Before it was me hitting him or just ignoring him.

"MARINE FLEET AT FOUR A'CLOCK!"

We looked up at the look out who was pointing to a large rank of ships. It was way more than the last time with me and Ace. Everyone looked at Oyaji. Some of the guys made it clear that they were up for a fight. Oyaji looked up at the look out.

"Who's all on the ship?" he asked putting his barrel of grog down.

"S-Sengoku is in the front." A lot of the men flinched back at the name. Ace seemed to be taken a back as well.

"Who's Sengoku?" I asked Marco who was beginning to sweat slightly.

"He's the head of the marines. The fleet admiral." Marco said looking at me.

"So that means he's really strong and such right?" I asked looking at the fleet that was getting closer. They hadn't opened fire yet and Oyaji seemed to be wondering what to do or why the man was coming to meet us.

"Right, but usually he stays at Marineford, the marine's headquarters. The last time he went out to face a pirate head on was with Gold Roger. He never went out of his way to meet Oyaji before." Ace said. A slight bit of poison was in his voice as he said the Pirate King's name. They had told me about him a while ago.

A seagull came towards Oyaji holding a small note. Oyaji read it and nodded his head towards the bird. Curiosity showed in his eyes more than caution and I was beginning to get curious as well. The ships pulled up alongside ours. They were smaller than the one we were on but still rather large. Five men came aboard the ship.

"The one in the front with the beard is Sengoku; the one next to him is vice admiral Garp. The three behind him are the admirals, Aokiji, Kizaru and Akainu." Marco whispered to me. I nodded my head. I could tell that they were strong. A few men began to back up but my pride kept me sitting where I was, though the feeling of fear was beginning to creep up inside me.

"Garp's my Jii." Ace said smiling.

"Wha… wait… huh!" I said looking at him and then at the marine. How did that work? Ace just nodded and went back to watching the marines.

"Sengoku, why the hell is someone like you wanting to see me?" Oyaji said taking a gulp of his drink. "You even dare bring the pipsqueaks along as well." He gestured towards the admirals and small chuckles came from the men. I was one of them.

"A matter that we are telling all pirates of the Yonkou and Shishibukai." He said not backing down at all. The man stayed standing.

"And what is that?" Oyaji sounded curious about a matter that was important enough to need to tell all of the pirates.

"A warping of this world that is caused by a disturbance in dimensions. Vegapunk has confirmed it and we have found the cause of it."

Oyaji looked down at the man questionably. What was he getting at meaning that this world was being warped and stuff about disturbance in the dimensions? Can that even been figured out. Agh! Learning navigation is sounding like a piece of cake, a very large piece of chocolate cake. I'm hungry now…

"And what's causing this?" Oyaji didn't seem to really care but I didn't fail to catch his glance over at me. Neither did the one called Garp. The man looked at me out of the corner of his eye and I looked back.

"There have been three people who have come here; to this world by crossing through the dimensions. Two of them have already begun to cause havoc and have destroyed many islands along the Grandline. They have met up and are now working together. It seems that they are searching for the third person. They knew about that said person somehow." Sengoku looked at me as he was saying this. He stopped facing Oyaji and faced me completely. The other admirals did as well while the vice faced Oyaji.

"What is your cause of being in this world?" he asked me. I looked at him with wide eyes. Was he accusing me of this and all that the other two people were doing? Oh no, that was not my problem.

"Are you assuming that one of my children is here to destroy this world?" Oyaji said in a threatening tone to the man. Sengoku glanced at him and nodded.

"She didn't come from this world that is obvious evidence. A patrol witnessed her falling out of the cloud similar to that of which the other men did." Sengoku said staring at the older pirate.

"Oi, Youko couldn't even remember her name when she got here, you expect her to be able to destroy the world and such?" Ace asked looking at the man. I didn't exactly know what to say but thanks to Ace I could now.

"I got sucked into a whirlpool in a pool and was nearly drowned and wound up here. And if I was really going to destroy this world, do you think I would have been partying and having fun on a pirate ship for the last three months?" I asked. This was seriously ridiculous. They had better not start thinking of this as some bad anime with people who want to destroy a different world for no reason whatsoever and that I am some great evil and such. "They are probably just bored and have fun destroying things like some pirates do."

"They hold powers that are not found in this world."

This time Garp spoke. I looked at him not exactly sure that he was actually speaking to me because he still faced Oyaji. "Devil Fruits." I said calmly. I didn't like the look I was getting from the other admirals, particularly the one in the middle with the cap.

"What do you want from Youko?" Oyaji asked Sengoku. The man turned his attention from me and looked at the pirate.

"Use her as bait to get the other two." He said. I instantly stood up and pointed at him.

"There is no way I am being used for bait. I'm already stuck being it for Sea King, I am not doing it for some homicidal men." I said clearly. Ace started laughing at my remark. Though I was actually regretting it. I could feel the pirates begin to tense up as one of the admirals began to move closer to me by a step.

Sengoku said something under his breath but he did sweat drop at my comment. I sat back down and tried to make myself small. The air was getting heavy and I really didn't like the glare I was getting. Ace seemed to adjust his position as well.

"We will bargain for her." Sengoku said looking at Oyaji. So I'm a product now.

"I won't hand over any of my children." Oyaji said looking at the man. "But I will bet on her."

Garp and Sengoku looked at the man questionably while the other three admirals kept their focus on me. I don't like being the center of attention and I really felt like hiding behind Ace and Marco. That would make me feel a lot better.

"A bet?" Sengoku questioned.

"Get the best swimmer you have on your ship at the present time. We set them out a good distance in the sea and see who gets to their ship first." Oyaji said with a confident smile.

"Sounds like fun." I said not exactly thinking. A relaxing feeling began to wash over me. I gently kicked my bare feet, grazing the deck ever so slightly. Sengoku looked at me and then back at Oyaji.

"Deal." He said before heading back to his ship. The other admirals went with him. Garp stayed for a second to wave at Ace. Ace nodded in return and went back to looking at me as the man walked off the ship as well.

"Let's hope that their best swimmer ain't a merman." Marco said looking at me.

"I'd lose wouldn't I?" I asked and Ace nodded. I reached for my toes.

"Why are they questioning you about this whole thing?" Thatch asked me. I looked up at him and shrugged. I really had no clue what they were talking about. The fact that there were other people from my world here was news to me.

The marines had a small boat and I got into it next to another man. It wasn't a merman but he was rather tall and intimidating looking. He looked at me and growled slightly. He was sporting trunks and a loose t-shirt. I smiled and looked away. Kami-sama you better damn hell help me with this. I really don't like the marines.

The ship was brought out a great distance from the ships. I tried my hardest to ignore the man standing next to me. My only goal was to get back to the ship as fast I can. So like when a sea king begins to chase me. Simple as that, I hope.

The gun fired and I instantly shot forward. The marine did as well. I immediately went up for air since I was too busy with my thoughts to remember to do so. The marine did as well but he was going to swim above the water. I was going under.

* * *

Ace watched with the rest of the crew as Youko appeared and then disappeared under the service. Questioning gasps resounded throughout the marines as the young pirate vanished from sight. The marine swimmer was on the water swimming rather fast. The sight of Youko going under seemed to make them nervous.

"What the hell does she think she's doing?" one asked staring at the spot the blue haired girl had disappeared to. Ace laughed and watched as the marine tried his hardest to be the fastest. He then all of a suddenly stopped and took a large breath of air.

Youko popped up in front of him. They still had a ways to go, but something had stopped both of them in their tracks. It couldn't have been a sea king, if it was, Youko would be on the ship already. The girl seemed to have a rather large fear of them. She loved eating them, but was scared shit of them. More figures appeared in the water, these were a little less human.

* * *

I looked at what Ace and Marco had told me were called mermen. There were five of them surrounding us. I rapidly kicked my feet to try and keep afloat. The marine seemed to be doing the same thing.

"Oi, pirate tell your buddies to back off." He snapped at me. What, was he assuming that these guys were my friends?

"If I knew them, would I have been surrounded as well!' I snapped hitting him in the head. This sent him under for a while before he reappeared and yelled at me.

"WHAT THE HELL BITCH!"

"YOU WERE BEING AN IDIOT!"

* * *

Ace began to laugh again. Youko had completely forgotten about the mermen had surrounded her and was picking a fight with the marine. Marco was amused as well. Oyaji didn't seem as much however.

"Looks like we got the wrong place for a race." He said looking at the young girl in the water. One of the mermen was beginning to become closer. From the distance it was obvious it was a shark one.

Ace looked at the unaware girl. The shark guy was getting closer and he doubted it was to talk. The others had tightened their defense so that the two of them couldn't escape. The other marines seemed to notice it as well but said nothing.

"YOUKO DIVE!" Ace hollered at the girl; praying that she could hear him.

* * *

Yeah, I might edit this later so the next chapter might be late unless I get lazy. I was reading this and wasn't exactly sure how it showed up like this. I really never planned on it turning into this but it did. I hope this doesn't start making her seem like a Mary Sue. I really don't want Youko to become one.

In good news, I have a picture of Youko up on my DA Account. The link for it is in my profile. It isn't the best but I plan on getting a better one up. I just started using the Muro thing a few days ago and I don't have a tablet so that is the best I can do for now. Will continue shortly because I doubt this chapter will actually change which meant I wasted your time with most of the first paragraph of this note.


	10. One Night

Like A Boy

Chapter 9 One Night:

I heard Ace yell at me to dive, but I couldn't do anything to before I felt the pain pierce through my shoulder. I caught a glance of the merman as he chewed down harder into my shoulder. The marine had backed up and stared in fear as I was attacked.

I could feel the blood drip down my arm but it was becoming watery due to the ocean hitting me and sinking the blood into the ocean. The other four looked at their friend and at me greedily. Dammit this hurt and I'm pretty sure that blood in the ocean is not a good thing.

I tried to kick the merman from under water but it was pretty much useless. There was no way I could beat these things in the water, probably not even in dry land. The man let me go and I instantly pushed forward to get out of his grip and away from him.

I put a hand to my bleeding shoulder and looked around. We were surrounded above water and probably completely useless under it. With my arm like this, I doubt I could swim very well. The marine had his back to me and I'm pretty sure I was staining him with my blood.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, mermen?" the marine asked the men in front of him. I didn't like his tone. The mermen didn't seem to either.

The one in front of him quickly sped forward gutting him with the stinger that was his tail. I quickly moved forward so that I wasn't hit. The man lost his ability to float and began to sink. I was going to reach for him but the appearance of a sea king made me stop and stare at the creature.

"Shit, the blood must have attracted it." One of the mermen said diving down. I looked at the giant fish before ever so slowly turning around.

* * *

Ace wasn't exactly sure how it happened. One moment Youko was in front of the sea king, the other she was hiding behind him and soaking wet. The mermen who hadn't dived in yet were staring at the spot she had been at and then back at the girl.

Youko looked out from behind Ace and stared at the sea king. "That came out of nowhere." She said looking at the thing that resembled a poodle and a chicken. A very ugly looking fish.

"No it was pretty obvious that one would appear."Marco said pointing to the wound on the girl's arm. Youko looked down at it and hit her palm with her fist.

"True." She said looking at her stinging shoulder.

"So, did I win?"

* * *

I sat still as the doctor fixed up my shoulder. It had hurt quite a lot and knew I had acted like a baby when he was treating it, but stitches weren't fun. The marines had left after confirming my opponent was indeed dead. They were reluctant to go but Sengoku had sworn that he would keep an eye on us, well me.

I sighed. This world was becoming complicated. Ace patted me on the back as the doctor finished wrapping my shoulder. I wasn't going anywhere for a while.

"Don't worry." Ace said smiling at me. "A lot of us have people wanting us dead more than we would like." Ha smiled and I cheered up and jumped down from the table I was sitting on.

We walked out to the deck. "I don't want to bother with those guys he was talking about though." I said going to where we sat. Thatch and Marco were waiting and looking at us. They easily caught what we were talking about.

"Why? They could help you figure out how you got here." Marco said as we sat down. The bandages could be clearly seen.

"I don't care how I got here. I'm here and that's that." I said simply looking at him with a smile. "It's not gonna change."

"Ha ha, you seem to be pretty light about the whole affair with the mermen." Thatch said knowing that I wasn't going to go in any deeper.

"Ah, I was so engrossed with the sea king I forgot about them." I said lightly rubbing my shoulder. This caused them to laugh. I noticed Ace looking at the bandages.

"It might leave a nasty scar." I turned to look at Lee. The girl was smiling down at me with a concerned look on her face. I noticed my phone in her hand.

"Why do you have my Touch?" I asked pointing to it. Lee looked at it and shrugged.

"I wanted to see more about. The screen went blank and there's this little circle in the middle." She said handing it to me. I looked at it and smiled.

"I can take another picture with it." I said happily touching the screen making the deck appear in it. Lee stared at in wander. She had seen a camera before, but you could never see the picture till after it developed.

Ace snagged it and ran to the main part of the deck with it. "Oi Ace, give it back!" I said running after him.

Ace was holding it over his head so that I couldn't reach it. I went up onto my toes and tried reaching for it. I was pretty much leaning against Ace but ignored it as he kept the phone out of my reach. Ace gestured for the other guys to get behind us and he put an arm around my neck.

Ace put the camera in front of us and flipped it around so that the lens was facing us. I looked at the small black machine and laughed. Marco and Thatch quickly got behind us as well as half the other guys on the ship. One who didn't want to be in the picture offered to take it. I told him how to do it even though Ace refused to let go of me. I smiled as he took the picture.

* * *

I sat on my bed and stared at the thing. Ace was pretty much wrapped around me and smiling happily. Marco and Thatch were behind us with Lee next to them. The commanders had gotten in as well and Oyaji could be seen in the background. I smiled at the picture and placed it where it had been before.

Once again the camera was an expensive frame, but this time, it held a picture that was even more precious. I smiled at it again and stood up to get ready to sleep. I pulled off my bikini top and put on a bra before taking off my pants and putting another pair on. As I was doing this I heard my door open.

Before I had a chance to turn around, someone had grabbed me by the waist and the door was closed. I had control over my arms but it was limited for another arm wrapped around my shoulders. My back was against someone's chest. I felt familiar beads hit the top of my head and turned to look at Ace.

The freckled face pirate was smiling at me and I looked at him frowning. How the hell did he get here? "Ace, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked trying to turn around. Ace didn't let me.

"You really need to remember to lock your door, Princess." Ace whispered into my ear. A shiver ran down my spine at his tone and I tried to get free.

"What the hell are you doing here?' I asked again though more in a whisper. It was late and night and I prayed nobody came and saw this. I could feel the heat rising in my chest and a knot formed in my throat.

"Didn't I tell you?" Ace began pushing me towards the bed. I tripped over the end frame and fell onto it with a small yelp.

Ace landed on top of me and stared down at me with a sly smile. His knees were on both sides of my legs and his hands on both sides of my head. My arms were pretty much at my sides. I could do nothing but stare up at the man and blush.

"I'm gonna make you feel as uncomfortable as possible." He said with a confident grin. I blushed heavily and looked away. The bed squeaked a bit as Ace leaned closer into me. I caught a glance of his face. He too was blushing but Pyro seemed a bit more confident about what was going on.

"Ace, what the hell are you talking about? Get out!" I said more in a hushed voice than anything else. This was really sudden and unexpected. I didn't like the surprise.

"No." Ace said simply, leaning closer against me. I looked away again and put my hands to his bare chest.

"Get off." I ordered him. Ace simply chuckled and continued to lean closer. I was trying with all my might but couldn't get him off of me. Usually it would be easy, but Ace was being serious here.

"Ace I swear to Kami-sama I will scream." I threatened. Ace's face was way too close to mine. I could feel his breath one my face and could almost taste it. My whole bubble was being disturbed by this one man and I found myself unable to scream.

"You won't." Ace said simply. I felt his lips brush against mine and I quickly looked away. Ace moved his hands and prevented me from doing so. I looked up at the man and found that I couldn't stop anymore.

Ace smiled at me almost sweetly and leaned in the rest of the way. I felt his lips touch mine and it seemed like a million things went through my mind yet I couldn't name you one of them. My eyes widened at first but then closed tightly when I saw Ace watching me.

When I had first thought of kissing a boy, I thought I would be disgusted and that I wouldn't like it. I was scared at first when Ace actually did it, but then I stopped. My body loosened and I began to actually enjoy the feeling. I felt ace pick me up and the next thing I knew I was sitting in his lap.

At first I just kept my hands on his chest but then moved them to his hair and gripped a handful of the black stuff. Ace had a hand caressing the back of my head while another was around my waist. Ace deepened the kiss and I let him. The heat on my cheeks stayed, but it was more of just warmth than anything else.

We finally parted when we needed air. I breathed shallowly and stared at Ace's throat, too embarrassed to look up at him. A small chuckle came Ace's throat and I tempted a look up at him. Ace was staring down at me with the sly smile he had on before. I looked at him before looking back at the base of his throat.

Ace leaned towards me and placed his cheek against mine. I flinched at the touch but did nothing to move him. "Are you uncomfortable?" he asked me in a teasing manner. I didn't say anything and Ace leaned back. I looked up at him curious before placing my forehead onto his shoulder.

Ace was curious at my reaction to his words. I took in a deep breath and knew that he could feel it on his skin. The kiss had surprised me and I could still feel the tingling on my lips from it. I licked them and accidentally grazed Ace's skin. I could feel the man react to it.

* * *

Ace lifted Youko's head up and made the girl look at him. She had only been licking her lips when the girl grazed him, but that small touch got to him. A deep blush was reddening the girl's face and Ace noted how cute the girl looked wearing it. This wasn't the first time Ace thought Youko was cute; he had begun to feel it when he had seen her in the dress.

Youko moved her eyes away from Ace but the fire user never failed to catch her glimpses at him. He chuckled softly before leaning down and kissing her again, this time hoping to go a little farther. Youko had been surprised by the sudden kiss and was caught off guard.

Because of this, Ace was able to get his tongue into her mouth. It scared Youko but when Ace begun to explore her mouth she became a little braver and tried to get control. This didn't help stop a moan that came from her as she tried and failed and gaining control over her mouth. Ace chuckled and slid his tongue out carefully. He looked down at Youko who was blushing furiously now.

Ace chuckled and licked the side of her mouth which made the girl whine a bit before toppling down onto the bed. Youko looked at the man who was smiling at her happily. He wrapped his arms around the girl and Youko placed her head against the man's chest. It was really warm…

* * *

I woke up the next morning and stared at Ace who was still asleep next to me. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks but quickly brought it back down as I remembered that we only kissed though that itself made me feel a little giddy.

I sat up as a bubbly feeling rose in my stomach. I curled up into a ball hoping that the sound in my throat didn't come out. I heard the bed shift and looked at Ace. He had sat up and was staring at me sleepily. He smiled and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I let him do it before I remembered that it was morning.

"This is going to be embarrassing if someone sees us." I said looking down at the bed. Ace let me go and chuckled a bit. He didn't see any problem with it. "Just shut up."

Ace stood up and stretched. His bare feet made little noise on the floor. I stood up and looked at him before gesturing towards the door. Ace raised an eyebrow at me but I frowned.

"I gotta get dressed." I said simply unlocking the door and carefully looking out. The halls were clear.

"And?" Ace challenged. I looked at him again before I began to shove him out the door and towards the stairs. I'm not sure where she came from, but Haruta all of a suddenly appeared and stared at.

I shoved Ace towards the stair and when he was gone looked at the commander. "You saw nothing." I said before going into my room. I heard her laugh but I knew that she would keep it a secret. A little while later I came out and went to my usual spot on the deck.

Marco and Ace were talking and I got into the conversation. Marco looked at me and smiled. "Your side?" Thatch asked me as I sat down on the deck. I looked at them and cocked my head to the side.

"What happened between you and Ace last night?" Marco asked. We were whispering and nobody but we four were in the conversation. "Ace didn't come to the guy's section last night so pretty much figured it out."

I looked at Ace and he shrugged. "Nothing." I said leaning out. Marco grinned and punched Ace.

"That wasn't want Ace said." Thatch said teasing. I looked at the man before straightening up and looked away.

"Shut up, just shut up."

* * *

Hope I didn't rush things a bit. It is really hard to describe things that you have never done before. Like kissing a boy. I hope it doesn't seem that way. Well, I hope you guys like the chapter and I will try to get them up a little faster than I did this week. My brain was working and was a bit hyper active. A new story will be up tomorrow.


	11. Your Average Day, I Guess

Like A Boy

Chapter 10 Your Average Day, I Guess.

I pretty much lost track of time as I was on the ship. At first it had been easy but here, there were no week days and no months. You went by what the season on the next island was and such. Even though the years were kept in order and they knew when the new one would start, you never really knew how long you were out someplace. I figured maybe half a year or so went by since I last saw my real world.

My hair was past my shoulders now and it was becoming annoying. I kept it up in a ponytail most of the time but I still don't like it. I'll probably get some scissors and hack it off. That would at least go by as a basic cut. I mean it isn't like I have to worry or anything. The guys here have very… interesting hairstyles. Well, putting it nicely, simply, they are just plain stupid looking sometimes.

I couldn't find a hair tie this morning though so my blue hair was down and being messed up by the wind. I'm pretty sure Marco was able to catch my agitation about it every time it went into my face. Ace would laugh when it completely covered it. I never knew that simple hair could piss someone off so much.

"Ace let me borrow your dagger." I said getting a good grip on my hair. Luckily since I took a bath often, it was fairly clean.

"Eh, okay." Ace said handing me the dagger at his waste warily. What, did he think I was going to shank him or something?

I walked over to the railing and sat up on it before leaning over and very quickly slicing the knife through my hair. Lee noticed what I was doing and quickly came over to me followed by a lot of the nurses to complain.

"Youko, why did you do that?" Lee asked as I ran a hand through my very badly cut hair. It was shorter now. About the same length as Ace's. I shrugged and handed the dagger back to Pyro. I was going to sit back down but Lee grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the nurses table.

She grabbed a pair of scissors and a few other nurses followed. I looked at Ace and Marco confused and they just shrugged. They weren't sure what the nurses were going to do either.

They brought me around to the back of the ship where the railing was slightly shorter and told me to sit on the railing. I did so and one of the nurses grabbed the scissors and began to cut my hair. The loose strands falling into a bucket that had been prepared. I sat still and let them do as they will.

"Mo, I can't believe you did that." Lee said looking at me as she leaned against the railing.

"It was becoming annoying." I said looking out at the sea. "Harder to swim too."

"Then you should have come to one of us and gotten one of us to do it." The one cutting my hair said.

"With the length it was at that was too risky." I said simply and I heard a few giggles suggesting that I was right.

"Okay, but at least don't use a dagger next time." Lee said meaning I won.

"That kinda hurt, maybe a butcher knife would be better." I said thinking it over.

"How about scissors?" Lee suggested looking at me as if I had even thought about it.

"That is boring, though it might be a little less painful." I admitted.

"You don't like pain that much do you?" one of the nurses asked.

"I hate pain. It hurts." I said with a small grimace. "But being a pirate kinda left me with no choice." I moved a hand to my shoulder. Four jagged scars covered my shoulder from where the merman had bit me.

"Hm, I can't believe you won't use that stuff that will make those fade away." Lee said looking at the reddish lines. I smiled and continued to watch the sea.

"Yeah, but I think I'll keep them the way they are. Nothing wrong with a girl having a scar or two." I said peacefully.

"Or four." One nurse said laughing a bit.

"Done." the one cutting my hair said. I turned around and faced them.

One held up a mirror and I took a look at my reflection. The back was boy short. I had larger bangs in the front that parted in the middle. They were messy and the left a little smaller than the right revealing some of my backer hair. I smiled at the reflection and then at the nurses.

"Thanks." I said with a smile. They smiled back and we walked back to the main part of the deck.

"It's really short." Ace said looking at it. I shrugged, I liked it. Ace grabbed a piece and began to fiddle with the blue lock for a little while even though it was annoying to me.

* * *

I woke up the next morning like usual but with a small bit of doubt and a suspicious feeling that something was going to happen that I wasn't going to like. I still was able to yank myself out of my warm bed and onto the cold wooden floor.

I dragged myself to my door and opened it. I grabbed a towel on the way out and headed down the hallway. I kept walking until I came to a larger door than the others. Heat was radiating from it and I opened the door. Most of everybody else was already in the bath. I quickly joined them.

"Ah this was what I needed." I said blissfully as I sat in the warm water. Lee slid up beside me.

"Bad night sleep?" she questioned.

"Nope, too good of a sleep to wake up." I said looking at her happily. I glanced down at the water and noticed that my chest was beginning to show more. They bulged a little bit more and I couldn't help but glare at them.

"You know, now that I think about it, you have changed a lot from the first time that you came here." Lee said noticing what I was staring at. "Physically and socially."

"Nah?" I looked at her and once again the other nurses gathered around us.

"Lee's right. You used to be so shy." One said looking at me. "You would never talk to anyone for so long."

"You were social around Ace and Marco, but you would look down a lot and not look at people in the face. Especially around Oya-bun." Another said.

"You were less tan too and you pretty much looked like a boy."

"Oi."

"Ha ha, it's true. You were also a little more closed than anything else. You never opened your door to us. Now you just sit there and say whatever is on your mind." Lee said smiling. "And you've matured a little bit more."

"How?" I asked. Did I really mature at all? Was I even mature to start with?

"You and Ace are already sleeping together at night." Lee said simply.

I felt the heat rush to my face and I slipped on the edge going under. I shot up and stood over the girl pointing a finger at her.

"D-d-d-don't be ridiculous!" I stuttered. Did everyone know Ace came to my room that one night? "B-besides, all he did was fall asleep in my bed, nothing else." I was still standing but I had my arms crossed and was looking away from the nurses who started to giggle. I realized that it was cold out of the water and went back in.

"Okay, okay, but still." Lee said eyeing me. "You like him."

"N-no, he's a friend but…"

"But~"

The nurses leaned in closer and looked at me earnestly. I tried to back up and get out of this pressure. I don't like being the center of attention and here I was it. I had to do something to get them to back up. But what?

"Would you guys leave her alone." The words were more of a command. We all turned towards Miku.

Miku was a very pretty woman with long blonde hair that she usually kept in a pony tail. Her green eyes would pierce anyone and she probably could get any guy she wanted to fall head over heels for her. She was nineteen and one of the best nurses there were. The only down fall she had was her bitchy attitude.

"Mo, Miku-san we were just joking with her and what does it has to do with you?" Lee asked the girl. She wasn't too much of a fan of the younger nurse.

"She says she doesn't like Ace-san so leave it at that. All you are doing is trying to get gossip." She said standing up and walking out of the bath. I watched her go before sighing. Why did I have the feeling that she was lecturing me?

"Ignore her Youko."

I looked up at Lee. The woman was glaring at the spot that Miku had left. I looked at her confused and one of the nurses picked up. "There's a rumor that she had a crush on Ace but he rejected her." the woman said going back to what she had been doing before.

I looked back at the door before standing up and walking towards where I had my clothes. I looked at the pile. I had forgotten to bring regular clothes as well. I sighed and dried my hair before wrapping the towel around my body.

"Forgot your clothes again?" Lee asked as she got out as well. I nodded and headed towards my room.

* * *

Ace stared at the sky. Youko hadn't come out yet and he was getting bored. They were going to go fishing again and she said she was going to teach him a game that she played when she was a kid once. It involved a finger gun and hand motions.

"Maybe she hasn't woken up yet." Marco said noticing the fire user's impatience. Ace sat up and smiled.

He went over to the door that led to the girl's rooms and went in. As Ace closed the door, Haruta walked over to where he had been sitting.

"The nurses are bathing today." The brown haired woman said looking at the door. "Youko usually takes one with them."

"Well, if we hear a girly scream we'll know that Ace is going to die." Marco said going back to the book that he had. Without Youko and Ace arguing he could finally read it.

It didn't take long for that to be ruined however. They heard a scream and the door leading to the girl's section broke open and Ace was sent flying back. Marco watched as his friend crashed into the railing half out of it. He and Thatch walked over to him and sighed.

"How much of that blood do you bet is coming from his nose?" Thatch asked Marco.

"How do we know all of it isn't?" the man replied and Thatch laughed before going back to what he had been doing.

* * *

I walked through the tables searching for one to sit at. I noticed an empty spot by Ace but ignored it. Maybe there was an empty seat by the nurses.

"Not sitting with Commander?"

I looked at Teach who was sitting and eating by himself. I sat by him.

"Not after this morning." I replied remembering how the man had walked in right as I dropped my towel to get dressed.

"Zehahaha, that was an accident." The fat man said eating half a cherry pie with one bite. I would never get used to the bottomless stomach of the Ds.

"Yeah, but he could have at least apologized." I said taking a bite out of my sea king meat. Out of habit from sitting next to Ace I glanced at Teach's hand every now and then to make sure it stayed on his food. The man noticed and laughed again.

"Don't worry; I won't steal your food. Got plenty of it." The man said gesturing to the table loaded with the stuff. I laughed and continued to eat happily.

"You seem a little different than the other guys." I noted as we ate. Teach raised an eyebrow at my comment.

"How so?" he asked eating another pie.

"You don't seem to have any ambitions. All you do is sit and watch everyone else. Kinda like how I did, but you seem to fit in more when you do." I said waving my meat back and forth. Teach laughed again.

"Nah, I don't have any ambition. I just like being a pirate. Less rules." He said simply.

"You mean more to break." I corrected. Teach gave me a questioning look. "Pirates have the same amount of laws as other people and the marines. We just break them."

"Zehahaha, you're right." He said I finished my food and so did Teach. He wasn't as fast as Ace but he ate a hell of a lot more than me. Teach stood up and I looked at him. "It's too bad that Ace already claimed you. You're a catch." He left the dining hall and I stared at him as he went.

Wait, since when was I claimed? And what does he mean by catch. No one owns me and goddammit does everyone seriously know about that night. MO~~ and I really wanted that to be a secret.

* * *

I stared at my ceiling and sighed. I questioned what I had been told. Everyone knew that Ace and I spent a night together, but what about me. I couldn't help but feel happy when I was with the man. He was different then the other guys from my world. Other than the fire controlling and him being a pirate and all. I closed my eyes and I really didn't feel like opening them.

* * *

Ace stared at the girl who was lying on the bed. Youko hadn't moved from the spot even when he had come in and closed the door. Maybe she was actually asleep. That would make this really hard. Ace took a deep breath and walked towards the bed. Why was he so nervous about saying a simple apology?

Ace looked at the girl. Youko was curled up on top of the covers with her face angled up. Her hair was a mess and she hadn't changed, still in her day clothes. Ace smiled slightly at the girl's lack of feminine qualities.

Ace leaned forward carefully so that he didn't wake her up. He would have to wait till tomorrow to apologize to her. He lightly kissed the girl's temple and began to back away. Youko's green eyes flickered open and she looked at Ace.

Ace stared at the girl and stood back up so that she could sit up. Youko stared at the man and did nothing else. Ace smiled sheepishly before straightening up and bowing.

"I'm sorry about this morning." He said looking at the girl. Youko looked at him and did nothing.

Ace was suspecting sarcasm or maybe harsh words, but what did happen wasn't what he expected. Youko had moved forward and wrapped herself around his neck and snuggled into his shoulder. Ace stood frozen before wrapping his arms around the girl's waist to lighten the pressure on his neck. The girl had literally been dangling. She was that short compared to him.

Ace wasn't exactly uncomfortable with the position and he actually liked having the girl dangling on him, but he wasn't sure what was going on. Light snores came from the person he was carrying and Ace had to suppress laughter that was forming in his chest. Ace tried to pry Youko's arms off of him but she was a dead weight and wasn't letting go.

The pyro finally gave up and sat down on the bed. Youko was in a sitting position on his lap but still clinging to his neck. Ace carefully bent over, using one arm to hold Youko and the other to undo his boots. After that he took of his pocket bag and belt. It wasn't exactly comfortable sleeping in them.

Ace was able to move the sheets and lay down on the bed. Youko reflexively moved closer to Ace as her head landed on the pillow. Ace pulled the sheets over the two of them and wrapped his arms around the smaller girl in front of him. A small smile came to his lips as he kissed her on the head and closed his eyes to go asleep as well.

* * *

Sorry for this coming a little later than the others. The next chapter is the reason why but I'll put the details at the beginning of it.


	12. Extra: I Like You, I Love You

**This is something that came into my mind and I was going to make it a One-shot but thought that it would be really cute with Youko and Ace. It has nothing to do with the actual story, more of a bonus chapter. I guess you could say that this is a like a songfic but maybe not. Well the song in it is real and you can look it up on Youtube. This is in third person since I like writing in it more than anything else. I wanted to post it at the same time as the other chapter so sorry once again for the later update. I hope you like this little side story. ^^

* * *

**

Extra: I Like You, I Love You

_"Remember students; sign up for the upcoming talent show will be outside the main office."_

Youko sighed in relief as the final class for the week ended and she could finally go home. She walked out of the classroom quickly and went towards the stairs that were right near the classroom she came from.

A crowd of people were coming down and masses were beginning to build. Standing still in the hallway on a Friday afternoon wasn't the best idea but Youko ignored the pushing crowd and stood where she was. What she was waiting for came quickly.

"Ace, Marco-nii!" Youko called to two men who were walking down the stairs. The two waved at the shorter girl and walked up to her.

At the school that the three of them went to, high school on the first two floors and college on the top four. The school was very big with a total of eight floors and a large roof that had a pool on it. Youko was a sophomore in high school while her friends were juniors in college.

The three of them walked down the final set of stairs and tried there hardest to get out the front door. This didn't stop the fan girl club from getting in front of them and stopping Ace and Marco from going any farther. The one in the front spoke first.

"Ace-san, Marco-san is you two going to the talent show? I'm going to be singing in it and I would like you to come and watch." The girl said flicking her black hair back.

Youko looked at the mass and sighed. She noticed a few of the girls eyeing her and felt like disappearing. Even though their attention was mainly on the black haired teen and the blonde that were in front of her, she was still getting some attention and she didn't like it.

"We might, but we aren't sure yet." Marco said politely. "Would you please move so that we can leave, we have to get to work."

"Ah, we're sorry Marco-san." The one in the front said moving slightly. "You girls are so rude staying in Ace-san and Marco-san's way!"

"We're sorry Alvida-sama." The girls said in a robotic unison and made a path for them. Ace and Marco walked forward and Youko followed gripping the straps of her bag.

"Aren't you ever sick and tired of stalking those two?" the girl heard Alvida whisper to her. She turned glared at the woman.

"Come on Youko, Oyaji will be waiting." Marco said to the blue haired girl. Youko ran forward to catch up to the two men.

"Sorry, Alvida wanted to say something to me." Youko said as they walked through the parking lot and to the vehicle that Oyaji bought for them.

Youko just received her license and Ace and Marco already had there's. She didn't drive much and liked it better when Ace did because he went fast. Marco enjoyed it too but wished the man didn't have as much a thrill as he did when they were breaking laws.

Youko sat in the back while Ace got behind the wheel of the convertible and Marco got shot gun. Ace pulled off of school grounds and sped up. The top of the car was down and the weather was perfect. Youko laughed as they got faster and faster on the highway.

Marco sighed at Ace's recklessness but couldn't hide his smile from the thrill of the speed. Like the other two, he enjoyed speeding; it was the fact that they were going this fast and not drunk that made him question things. Like their sanity.

The man glanced at the youngest and only girl in the group. Youko wasn't his real sister, but she was enough of one for him. Always curious and defiantly someone who needs to be watched after. Almost like Ace but not as mature. If you can call the man mature.

They drove up to a large building that was fixated near the ocean but still part of the large city that they lived in. The place was called Moby Dick Orphanage but it really couldn't be considered one. Mainly because the only one who was under eighteen in the place was Youko. They were just a bunch of outcasts and common thieves that were picked up by the man that ran it.

Edward Newgate, or who they called Oyaji was an old man who called them his children. He kept them safe and gave them a place that made them feel welcomed. Youko had just appeared less than a year ago.

She had been injured and hungry and they took her in. Youko was the name Oyaji had given her since she said that she didn't have one. Ever since then the girl had fit in perfectly and was very happy. They were a family that couldn't be broken. Maybe just a little deeper at points though.

Youko leaned over Ace's shoulder and grabbed the soda can he had bought from the vending machine and finished it up. Ace looked at her shocked before grabbing her cheeks and pulling them as her punishment for taking his drink.

Marco started to laugh and Youko complained and finally Ace let go. "That hurt Pyro~!" Youko complained rubbing her reddened cheeks.

"Serves you right." Ace said looking at her with black eyes. Youko glared back with her green ones. Marco sighed and pushed his way in between them.

"We're late as it is." He reminded the two of them. They picked up their pace and walked into the large building. They quickly got out of their school outfit and changed into something more comfortable before heading out and going to the warehouse that was behind the building they lived in.

"There you guys are. What took you?" Thatch asked as the three of them entered the building. Youko walked up to him and helped him with the crates he was carrying.

"These two had to deal with their fan club." The girl said brining the crate over to a conveyer belt and placed it on it.

"Why don't you two just tell them to leave you guys alone?" Thatch asked as the other two began to work.

"That would be rude." Marco answered calmly and began to work as well.

"There stalkers though." Thatch said lifting up another crate. "Do they realize that?"

"No, they think I'm one." Youko said lifting another crate. She wasn't able to do it as fast as the guys but still fast enough.

"Why?" Ace asked.

"Because I'm always following behind you guys." Youko said calmly. Jozu motioned for her to go over and help him move some crates. Youko walked in his direction without hearing anymore.

"She lives with us and nobody else accepts her. Of course she follows us around and it's not like it makes a difference." Ace said going back to his work. Marco shrugged knowing that the freckled face teen was right.

* * *

That evening Youko stared at the sky. She was sitting on the roof of the building they all lived in. The air was cold due to it being night time and all but the girl didn't care. She simply wrapped her arms around her legs and continued to watch the stars. The door to the roof opened up and Marco came out.

The blonde dropped a blanket on top of the girl and sat next to her. Youko looked at the man and thanked him before going back to watching stars. Another sigh escaped her lips.

"Still haven't thought of a way to tell him?" the blonde asked and Youko nodded.

She had a crush on Ace and couldn't tell him how she felt. It didn't help that every day he was being fawned over by the girls in high school levels. She didn't know what was going on in college levels, but it was probably the same. There just wasn't any chance for her to actually tell him how she felt.

"Why not just tell him here at home if you can't do it at school?" Marco suggested. Pretty much every person in Moby Dick knew about the girl's crush. Well everyone except the man himself. They all tried to cheer the girl on but the girl was shy when it came to this.

Youko hid her face and shook her head. Doing it in front of her family was defiantly out of the question. That would be way too embarrassing. Marco smiled at the girl's reluctance and stared at the sky with her. This was the one spot he could always find her. Youko seemed to enjoy watching the stars over the ocean.

"You going to enter the talent show?" Marco asked hoping to change the subject.

"That would be called suicide by embarrassment." Youko said looking at the man she thought of as a brother. Marco raised an eyebrow at this.

"I've heard you sing. In fact so has almost every person in the building." The man said with a smile. Youko looked at him bug eyed.

"Wha-when? HOW?" Youko looked at him with tears in her eyes. Since when had they known she liked to sing?

"Randomly walking by your room and hearing you sing to yourself though you mostly sing Japanese songs." Marco said simply.

"I thought the rooms were sound proof." Youko said sadly. She really had.

"Don't worry, you don't suck or anything." Marco said with a small laugh. Youko's reactions were interesting to watch.

"Okay, but why enter the talent show?" Youko asked looking at her brother with suspicion.

"Maybe you can tell him how you feel that way. Ace isn't too bright, but he's also not stupid. Just sing a song and I'm sure he'll pick up what you mean." Marco said simply.

Youko sighed and looked back at the sky. "You mean how Alvida is singing Paparazzi by Lady Gaga to represent how she stalks the two of you?" she asked glancing at her brother with a small smile.

"How do you know what song she is going to sing?" Marco asked his sister curiously. Did she really do some stalking? Or would that be more of spying?

"I passed the list for the talent show. She took up half the sheet with her bright pink pen." Youko said simply. Marco sweat dropped. Alvida would. She really would.

"I still say you should do it." Marco said standing up and heading towards the door. "Don't stay up too long or you'll catch a cold."

* * *

Youko stared at the list in front of her. A few people after Alvida had already signed up. Usually the blue haired girl would wait for Ace and Marco by the stairs but they would pass by her here. A blue sharpie was clenched in the girl's hand.

"You aren't actually planning on doing something are you?"

Youko turned to look at Alvida. The woman was staring at her in disbelief. Youko turned away and went back to staring at the list before her.

"It's just a waste of time and you'll just embarrass yourself." The black haired woman continued.

"Ah, I know I will." Youko said writing down something. "But it might just be worth it." Youko walked away and decided to wait for her brothers by the car instead of the suffocating halls of the school.

* * *

"Ne, why were you by the car instead of the stairs?" Ace asked at dinner. Youko looked at him and smacked his hand with her spoon at the same time.

"I had to do something." Youko said taking another bite of the hot meal. Ace rubbed his sore hand and continued to eat his food.

Later that night Youko sat in her friend Lee's room. Lee was happily jumping up and down at the news that Youko was going to be in the talent show.

"I'm not in it yet. Tomorrow are the try outs." The girl said once again.

"I know I know, but you're really good at singing. There's no way you won't be in it." Lee said turning to the girl. Her red locks flew with the motion.

"Don't get too excited Lee."

The two girls turned to Marco. The man tossed something to Youko. The girl caught it easily and stared at the small device. It was an ear microphone. The black box had a strap that fit like a head band and a small mouth piece came out. A blue and dark purple square decorated the box.

"It'll hook up to any speaker." The man said. Youko smiled and put it on. It fit perfectly.

"Oh~ if you do make it can I make your outfit?" Lee asked the girl grabbing her hands.

"No skirt." Youko said with a sigh. She was going to ask why an outfit, but knew better.

* * *

Youko put her head on the desk. Three days had passed since her tryouts and she was becoming a nervous wreck waiting for the announcement about the winners who were going to be in it. Unlike other schools, there wasn't a grand prize or anything, just a simple show.

_"I would like to announce the ten people who will be presenting at the talent show this weekend: Alvida singing Paparazzi by Lady Gaga…"_

Youko sat up as the announcement continued.

_"…and finally Youko who will be singing Suki Daisuki by Rin Kagamine. Congratulations all of you and put on a good show."_

A smile creeped onto Youko's lips as her name was called. The bell rang right afterwards and she rushed out of the classroom. The smile stayed on her face as she ran to the stairs. She would be able to do it. No matter what, she would be able to do it.

Marco congratulated Youko on making it and Ace looked at her questionably. He hadn't even known the girl was trying out for it. Why hadn't he been told at all? Or maybe he had been and he had forgotten.

"Don't think that just because you made it means that you can beat me." Alvida said stopping the group form exiting the building once again.

"I'm not trying to beat you." Youko said simply. The feeling of hiding as people began to swarm around them came back to her.

"My name was called first meaning I was the best and yours was called last meaning you were the worst." The woman said completely ignoring what Youko had just said. Youko sighed and quickly walked passed her with the other two in tow.

* * *

"YAY YAY!" Lee said clinging onto Youko. Youko allowed herself to be clung to and swayed back and forth but obvious dislike was on her face.

"Let her go Lee." Ace said sweat dropping at the woman's excitement. She wasn't the one in the show. She was only going to watch it.

"So the show is tomorrow, right?" Marco asked. Youko nodded.

"Yeah, there's still something I have to do though." She said heading towards the stairs. "My song is in Japanese so I have to make a slide show with the words in English to play in the background."

* * *

Ace and Marco sat in the front of the crowd with the rest of their family. Well, more of that they had to reserve a section just for them. There were a lot of people in their little family and the school knew that very well. They had a camera ready and planned on filming Youko's song.

* * *

Youko looked at her family. Everybody, even Oyaji had come to watch her performance. Butterflies were beginning to form in her stomach and she was getting very nervous. Youko let go of the thick curtain and walked to the area that the other participants were told to wait. Alvida was showing off her outfit.

The woman was wearing a rather revealing outfit that consisted of a skimpy white bikini top that showed most of her cleavage and a short skirt that lifted up with every step and a pair of three inch heels. A pink feather boa and a matching cowboy hat finished her attire as well as a slash of bright red lip stick.

Youko made sure her ear piece that Marco had given her was on right and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her outfit was made by the nurses and Youko surprisingly liked it. It was a sailor uniform top that had no sleeves and was cut off under her chest. The collar part was black with a blue stripe and a blue bow.

She was wearing loose black short shorts that had a regular green belt and a loose one that was purple. Attached to the green one was a blue one that swung down on her hip. About three inches down her arms were arm warmers that were purple with a blue trim. There were matching ones on her leg except they were black with blue trim and the right had the purple skull mark of the Moby Dick Orphanage. On her feet were normal black shoes.

* * *

Youko sat and stared at the floor as person after person went onto the stage and did their talent. The cheers from crowds filled her ears and the same nervous feeling came back trough her. What if she couldn't do it? What if she failed? No she had to be strong. She had to be able to be the center of attention for at least a few minutes to finish her song.

Finally her name was called and Youko shot up. She took a big breath and carefully walked out onto the stage. When she was in the center she realized that the music was already beginning to play. She had not time to think about the crowd. She had to start.

* * *

Ace watched as the words began to pop up behind the blue haired girl as she sang the song in a foreign tongue her accuracy surprising many people.

**He-he-he-hey, hey, could you wait a minute?  
If you're busy, sorry  
Just a little, hey, a little while  
I want to talk with you**

Ace watched as the girl moved her hands a bit with the music. The way she made the lyrics made them interesting to watch and read.

** What should I do? What should we do?  
Um.. What game should we play?  
Shiritori?  
Shirito-"ri".. "Ri"-n  
I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this **

Youko made a depressed reaction with the last section making a few people in the crowd laugh.

**Are you hungry? Want something to eat?  
Umm... I... I don't have water**

A bottle of water floated behind the lyrics.

**Take your eyes off the monitor  
I have to simulate distance  
And yet I watch that idiot  
My throat is dry and I can't speak**

Sigh... What to do  
I'm being honest, you see...  
No good, it's as scary as ever 

Ace stopped laughing with the other people as the girl made different reactions and moves with the words. He began to pay more attention to what was actually being said.

**I want to convey my feelings  
Why is it so hard?**

Ace stopped cheering and sat and watched Youko. Marco continued to record the show but the man did glance at the other occasionally.

**He-he-he-hey, hey, could you wait a minute?  
If you're busy, sorry  
Just a little, hey, a little while  
I want to talk with you**

What can I do? What's the point  
Um.. ro-ro-rock, paper, scissors!  
Rock, paper, scissors, iced coffee, I think**  
I'm sorry, I'm pretty boring

Ace smirked at the last part knowing very well that it wasn't true. Youko was the opposite of being boring.

**Are you hungry? Want something to eat?  
Umm... I... I don't have water**

See, even if it's sudden  
It's kind of a weird feeling, sorry  
Maybe it's surprising  
But, I wanted to hear, err...

Youko's voice was becoming hesitant but it fit with the music and what was being said.

**Sigh... What to do  
I'm being honest, you see...  
No good, it's as scary as ever**

I want to convey my feelings  
Why is it so hard?

A smile crept onto Ace's face as he continued to watch and listen to the girl sing.

** I'm being honest, you see...  
I-I, I, I, I, I  
Hey, you are, um...**

I, sorry, wait.. I-I...  
I, I, um.. hey..  
You're the one that I li...

Hey, honestly %*#, I, um  
I, um, um, hey..  
You're... um...  
I, sorry, wait, he-hey 

Ace almost joked when the girl nearly cursed in the school. The sound fit in but he had recognized it as a word she said often.

******Umm, I...  
You're the one that...!**

Hey, I, you're the one that I..  
Hey, I, you're the one that I..  
I, to you...

Li, li, li-li, li-li, li... li  
Li-li-li-li, li, li, li,li  
Lii, sigh.. Sorry, I forgot 

Ace stared as he stopped looking at the words and watched Youko and listened to her sing alone.

"… matte! Su, su, su-su, su-su, su…su. Su-su-su-su, su… su… su. Su, su, su-su, su-su, su… su." The girl's hesitation seemed so real. Ace couldn't stop listening.

"SUKI DAISUKI!"

Youko's hands came to her face as she said the last line. A blush warmed her face and people began to cheer. Youko looked at the ground and ran off the stage. People laughed at her embarrassment. Youko rushed behind the think curtain and took in a deep breath. The other participants clapped for her as well.

* * *

Ace and Marco as well as the rest of their family walked out with the rest of the crowd. All were talking about the show and the talents that were displayed. Lee was chatting about how cute Youko had looked in her outfit and Ace felt warmth rise in his cheeks as he thought about the girl in the outfit. The cold October air blew and the crowd simultaneously shivered at the cold air.

Ace noticed Youko walking out the back door to the stage along with the other talent show talents. He was going to walk over to her but Alvida jumped in front of him and Marco.

"Hey, Ace, Marco!" the girl said dropping the formality she usually used with them. "What did you think of my star singing?" the girl flipped open her jacket revealing her skimpy outfit. Goose bumps were literally seen on her revealed skin.

"I think you're gonna get sick if you don't cover up." Marco said sweat dropping.

"OMG you're worried about me!" the girl squealed.

"Not really…" Marco said trying his hardest to ignore the girl. Ace had already snuck by and was bee lining for Youko.

"NE, Ace, you never told me what you thought!" Alvida hollered after him. Ace ignored the teen and stopped in front of Youko who was blowing on her bare hands.

"Nice job." Ace said smiling slightly. Youko looked up at him and smiled slightly as well.

"Thanks." She said before going back to blowing on her hands. Ace could see her shiver and noticed that even though her outfit covered her, Youko was still freezing.

Ace stepped closer and hugged the girl. A yell of protest could be heard from behind him but he ignored it. Youko was shocked at the sudden embrace but welcomed the warmth it brought.

* * *

Alvida was trying her hardest to get out of Marco's grip and go and break the hug apart. How dare the girl get close to her Ace like that. She was going to pay. Ace leaned in closer but to Alvida, Youko was forcing him against his will.

* * *

"Daisuki." Ace whispered into the girl's ear. Youko's eyes widened and she looked up at the man. He stood a good five inches taller than her. Ace was smiling happily.

Youko smiled and stood up on her tip-toes. That barely helped but Ace finished it by lifting the girl up. He quickly placed his lips on her and held her into the kiss. Even Alvida's furious screams became deaf to him. Youko wrapped her arms around Ace's neck and happily kissed him back.

"Suki Daisuki." She said when they parted for air. "Forever."

* * *

Yay, this took a while. Sorry that it is broken apart a lot. If you want to hear the actual song with both Romanji and english subtitles type in I like You, I Love You Rin Kagamine in Youtube and they will have it. The song is really well done. They also have it one . there type in Suki Daisuki. or Vocaloid and you'll be able to hear a lot of songs the group does. I hope you guys liked this little extra. ^^


	13. Little Miss Talent

**Okay, just to give you a heads up I kinda dropped the first person in this chapter. I didn't want to confuse anybody so I am telling you now. If you want me to I will continue the rest of the stroy like this. If you don't like the idea just tell me. Like usual I'll go by majority rule.

* * *

**Like A Boy

Chapter 11 Little Miss. Talent

**The man looked at the empty bed in front of him. It had been three days since the bed became vacant. The girl who had been there before had disappeared. The police did a search and there was no proof that she got up and walked away. The cameras proved what the doctor and nurses were telling them. The girl vanished.**

**She disappeared from the world as if it wasn't where she had belonged. As if Earth wasn't where she was intended to live. The parents of the girl hadn't appeared since that one day. They say that they went back to Africa to finish filming their movie.**

**Maybe what the nurse said that one day was true. That they really don't care about their own flesh and blood. The girl didn't seem to care much about them. Students and teachers said that she never talked about them and when the concept of family came up she would scoff it off as something useless. **

**"Where the hell do you go?" the doctor said staring at the empty bed. Nobody was pressing charges for the missing girl. No one seemed to care. It was as if her existence meant nothing.**

**The man stood up and stared at the bed. The glasses and bag that belonged to the girl sitting and gathering dust next to her. The papers inside yellowing from the wait that was still going on. "I hope you are happy wherever you are." The man said going to his desk and to the file on the girl.**

**Boxes were stacked and belongings from his office packed. The only thing not packed or put into another room was a single file with a picture of a frowning blue haired girl. The man sat at the desk and pulled out a pen. His eyes slowly trailed over the paper and went to the bottom of his full report.**

**_Girl stayed in a coma for four months. At the end of the fourth month she began to vanish before disappearing all together. After six total months of her being in the hospital, girl never came back. Let God pray she is in a place where she is happy._**

**The man put his pen down and closed the file. Picking up his bag and the envelope he left the office. The doctor dropped the file off in the receptionist's desk before leaving the hospital for good.

* * *

**

Marco stared at the bed. Youko and Ace had never come out and it was nearing noon. Youko had another navigation lesson and she seemed to be happy about taking them so he figured she had still been asleep. He didn't expect to find her like this though.

"Maybe we should have brought a camera." Thatch said looking at his friend. Marco sighed and looked away from the bed.

He knew that Ace had gone to apologize to Youko but he had never come back. Right now he was lying on his side with his arms wrapped around the smaller girl. Marco figured that Youko had no clue that Ace was in her bed even though she was snuggled against him and curled up into a ball. Like Thatch, he had to admit that it was worth getting a picture of it.

"Oi, what are you two doing down here?"

The two men turned to look at Haruta. The woman was leaning against the door frame in her usual attire and staring at the two of them. The woman noticed the lump in the bed and walked over.

"Do you have a camera?" Thatch asked her. Haruta smiled at the two who were fast asleep.

"No but they look cute together sleeping like this. I wish we didn't have to wake them up." Haruta said looking at her two friends.

"If Youko wakes up first we'll have to cover her mouth." Marco said and right on cue the girl's eyes began to twitch open.

Youko warily opened her eyes and brought her arm up to rub sleep out of them. She seemed to want to try and get up but Ace's arms were preventing her from getting far. She looked up at the still sleeping man and even though she was facing away from them, Marco could see her eyes become wide.

Thatch and Marco had their hands over Youko's mouth before she could scream. Haruta closed the door before anyone else realized what was going on. Youko turned her head and pointed a finger at Ace completely ignoring the fact that the other men were in her room. Marco and Thatch removed their hands when it seemed that Youko wasn't going to scream anymore.

"Get him off of me." The girl said in a threatening tone.

"Sorry Youko, but until Ace wakes up, he ain't getting off." Marco said shrugging. It was true; Ace had a death grip when he was asleep. The room became quiet and no one moved. The only sound was Ace's small snores.

"This ain't awkward at all." Youko said sighing. She was able to get her arm out of the grip and pushed at Pyro's face.

"Ace, if you don't wake up I swear to Kami-sama I will dump you over board and I won't get you out." the girl said trying to push the dead weight off of her. It didn't work. "I'll eat your food."

"Ah, Youko that isn't fair what did I do?" Ace instantly shot up and looked at the girl who was staring at him in shock. Marco and Thatch were trying to suppress laughter behind her and Haruta sighed.

"Eh, why are you all in here?" Ace asked looking at the people around him.

"That should be my question." Youko said swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. "Why are _you _here?" She looked at the man questionably.

"You don't remember?" Ace asked looking at her. Youko turned her head wondering what the man meant.

"You're the one who gripped onto me and wouldn't let go." Ace said.

Youko froze up and didn't move. Ace looked at her curiously as well did the rest of them. They visibly saw the blush that was beginning to spread on the girl's face. The answer was simple. She had been sleep-walking.

Ace grinned and glomped the girl happily earning himself a squeal. Thatch started to laugh and Marco smiled as Youko tried her hardest to get out. The girl began to flail and kick but it was all in vain. Ace started to laugh as well and Youko finally gave up. She sat there with a pout on her face as the men continued to laugh.

"Fine you win but get out I need to change." Youko said gesturing to the three men. Thatch and Marco left and Haruta politely excused herself as well. Youko looked at Ace who was still clinging onto her.

"That means you too Pyro." She said with a disapproving look.

"Aw, why not?" Ace said with a smile. Youko continued to give him her look.

"Out." she said simply. Ace booed but didn't let go. Youko sighed. "What can I do to get you to let go?"

"Tell me." Ace said. He moved Youko to his lap. His feet touched the floor and hers barely grazed it. "Tell me about what happened between your parents and you before you came to this world."

Youko looked up at the man. She hadn't exactly minded being put into his lap but it did somewhat surprise her. She looked down at the ground and slowly moved her hands up to Ace's arms which were wrapped around her chest above her chest.

"You really want to know?" Youko asked in a small whisper.

"Ah, I want to know." Ace said placing his head on top of hers. Youko sighed and closed her eyes as she began to figure what had happened on that day.

"Okay, but promise me you won't tell anyone." She said quietly.

"Ah, I promise."

_*Flashback*_

_A small girl ran up the steps to her house. The car that her parents drove was in the drive way. It made her very excited. Her oak brown pigtails flopped in the air as she ran up the stone stairs. Her blue shorts and orange shirt blew slightly as the wind picked up. The girl quickly and with some effort opened the large door. _

_"Mama! Papa! You're back!" the girl ran into the kitchen. She was off age six and quickly ran into her father and clinged onto his leg looking up with a happy smile._

_The man knelt down and patted her on the head greeting her sweetly. This made the girl smile even brighter. She then smiled at her mother who was sitting at the table and watching the two of them. The girl let go of her father's leg and moved to the seat next to the woman climbing up with some effort._

_The woman bent down and hugged the little girl affectionately. The small brunette hugged her mother back and noticed the paper that was sitting in front of her. It was a flyer with bright lettering and a picture off a girl the brunette's age holding a bouquet of roses and wearing a crown. She was wearing a beautiful green dress. _

_"Li-little Miss. Talent?" the girl said struggling to read the title. _

_"Right, it's a contest that is held in the studio once a year for little girls your age. They compete in acting to see who will become the next top actress. The winner gets to start a new career as a child actress." The woman said pulling out the small pigtails and running her hand in a combing motion through the now loose locks of her daughter._

_"Eh, is Mama going to be a judge?" the girl asked happily wanting to watch her mother in action as a director and judge._

_"No, no sweetie, Papa is and you are going to be competing." The woman said with a smile._

_The girl looked at her mother and then at her father. Both were smiling at her anxiously waiting for her reply. The woman began to frown as the small girl made no such reply. The girl simply looked at the paper and tried to make out the writing that was on it. _

_"But, I don't want to be an actress. I want to travel and see the world." The girl said looking at her mother apologetically. She turned to get down from the table._

_"You can travel as an actress." The man in front of her said stopping her from going any farther._

_"But I don't like acting. I want to have adventures and go on the ocean." The small girl said looking him straight in the eye. The girl heard her mother move and turned around._

_The small girl's eyes widened as the hand contacted her face and a stinging pain began to form in her cheek. The brunette crashed into the table and brought a hand to her reddening cheek, tears in her eyes. She looked up at her mother who was glaring down at her with disgust and anger._

_"How dare you disobey me! Your job is to do as I tell you and continue to the family of actors and directors. You are to be the best." The woman said. The small girl curled her fist in anger and turned to her father for help. The man looked away._

_"I-I can dream whatever I want. Teacher said so. I don't have to do the career another picks for me." The girl said before jumping off the chair and running towards the spiral stairs that led to the upper floors. _

_*End Flashback*_

"After that day, my parents never pressed about it. But they became colder and colder and forced me to do a lot of things I didn't like. Eventually they gave up on that and completely denied my existence in general. I'm not their daughter anymore." Youko said.

Ace closed his eyes slightly and placed his cheek on the side of the girl's head. Youko curled up to where her feet were on Ace's knees and she leaned farther back into him. Ace tightened his grip slightly and felt Youko's face burrow into his arms. He also felt a small smile spread onto her face.

"But now I have a new dad and a new family. I never want to go back." The girl said smiling happily.

"Ah, and we don't want you to go back. Everybody has one or two things from their past that they don't like." The man said smiling slightly himself.

As promised, Ace let Youko go and the girl stood up and looked at him. Ace sat on the bed and stared at the girl. With him sitting and her standing, he was only slightly shorter. Youko sighed and walked over to her dresser.

Over half of the drawers were empty so only she had plenty of room for more things. She opened one of the top ones and pulled out a black bikini. She looked at Ace and then motioned with her hand for him to turn around.

"Look at that wall and nothing else." She commanded. Ace nodded happily and turned around with his legs crossed on the bed.

Youko quickly undid her bikini and took it off. She changed into her usual day shorts before beginning to put the new bikini top on. She got the top part on since it only needed to slip over her head; it was the back that was giving her trouble. Today for some reason she couldn't get the back string tied.

"Stupid thing." Youko said straining her neck to look back and try to get her fingers to do what they were supposed to do. She turned her head back and sighed as once again she failed.

Youko was just going to stop and wear a regular shirt when a pair of larger hands covered hers and held them where they were. Youko looked back and saw Ace standing right behind her. She was going to jump back and hit him for not doing what he had been told but he stopped her by placing his chin on her shoulder that held the scars.

"Ace, I thought I told you not to turn around." Youko said feeling the string in her hands disappear and felt Ace's slightly brushing against her skin. The heat in her cheeks began to disappear at realization of what he had been doing. Ace took his head off of her right shoulder and walked over to where he had put his stuff and quickly put them on.

"You did." Ace said finally after getting his last belt on. "I never actually _said_ yes." He looked at her and smiled. Youko sighed and opened her door.

A slamming sound came and she looked on the other side to see Thatch sitting on the floor and rubbing his head. She smiled at him and Marco quickly backed up. Thatch looked up at the girl and flinched, bug eyed.

"I should run shouldn't I?" the man asked Ace who nodded.

"Both of you." He said. Haruta looked at Youko who was walking towards both men.

Thatch had stepped back and was standing slightly in front of Marco. They couldn't see the blue haired girl's eyes but it was clear that she was pissed and tick marks were beginning to form on her face. Ace waved good bye as both of them raced up the stairs and out onto the main deck with Youko on their heels.

Haruta followed out with Ace next to her. She looked up at the man who was walking casually with his hands behind his head. "So, you moving in with her now or are you just enjoying a few nights?" she asked glancing up at him questionably.

"Might as well and we haven't done anything yet." Ace said almost emphasizing the 'yet' part.

"I get a feeling that that 'yet' might always be there." The brunette said walking towards another group as Ace walked over to where Youko was happily trying to get her hands on Thatch. Marco was holding her back obviously having gotten out of punishment and Thatch into deeper shit. A small chuckle came from Ace's lips as he walked over to the little group. _

* * *

_Sorry that this and the others haven't been updated as they usually have. I got new colored pencils and a new sketch book and finally some character profiles I have been waiting for so I have been kinda busy doing that but I promise that I will get some more up tomorrow for maybe all my stories for those who read more than one.


	14. Failed Thief

Like A Boy

Chapter 12 Failed Thief

Youko stared at the book that Marco had given her. She had gotten used to reading even with the noise of everyone else. Ace and Marco were arm wrestling in front of her while she looked through the book on how to navigate. For once in her life, Youko found it interesting to learn something.

Youko glanced up when the cursing from Ace and Marco died down. Ace had fallen asleep which meant victory for Marco. The man easily pushed the other's down even though it did require some force. Marco kept his hand on Ace's and waited for the fire user to wake up. When Ace did, Marco was smiling at him victoriously and Ace noticed that he had lost.

"Ah, that's a cheat, I fell asleep." The man said pointing a finger at Marco.

"Then don't fall asleep." Youko said going back to her book. Ace looked at her heart broken that the girl was on Marco's side and not his. Youko glanced up at him and stuck her tongue out. She was showing him no sympathy.

"Traitor." He mumbled before trying to challenge Marco again. The man declined and went over to look at where Youko was at in her book.

"Rereading?" he asked her and Youko nodded.

"Just in case I missed something." She said with a smile. Marco continued to look over her shoulder and Ace came over to see what was so interesting.

"You really are into this whole navigation thing aren't you?" he asked looking at her curiously.

"Well for one it's interesting because navigating here is a hell of a lot different." Youko said closing her book. She didn't like people looking over her shoulder as she read. "And another because it can be useful."

"I know how a log post works." Ace said in a small mutter sitting next to the girl. Youko sighed. Of course that would be what he would say.

* * *

Youko decided to go to bed and apparently Ace decided to follow. She looked at him questionably but all he did was smile. Youko figured out what it was when she opened her room to find Ace's stuff in it. Ace casually walked in.

The black haired man went to the bed and sat down with his feet on it and his hands behind his head. Youko glared at him before walking over and standing next to the bed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Youko asked. Ace smiled.

"Sitting on my bed." He said almost like a challenge.

"Correction, _my _bed." Youko said with a small growl.

"Now it's our bed." Ace said correcting both of them.

"No, no, no, no, no." Youko said pointing to the door.

"Oyaji doesn't care and Haruta already knows." Ace said smiling even wider as the girl began to get ticked and maybe a little embarrassed.

* * *

No, no, NO! There was no way Ace was going to be staying in my room from now on. Why the hell did it have to be my room? Why do I have to share it with him? So we kissed what, once? And so we slept together a couple of times. But that doesn't mean he has to start living with me? We haven't even gone past kissing yet, and dear Kami-sama did I say yet?

I looked at the man who was still smiling at me. It was a mixture of sly and victory. I frowned and went right up to him before gripping his shoulders and trying to yank him off of my bed. Ace chuckled at my weak attempt and followed it up by forcing me to lay on him.

I was on my stomach and had my face against the upper part of his chest. Ace kept his hands around my waist as I looked up at him knowing that a blush was forming on my face.

"Let me go Pyro!" I slammed my fists against his chest even with the little room that was between us. This amused Ace even more and he continued to grip me but this time lifting me up a bit.

"You know," Ace said as I became face to face with him. Ace had sat up which meant that I was once again sitting on his lap. "You really are cute when you're angry."

He leaned in and kissed me gently. I tightly closed my eyes as his lips pressed harder against mine and tried my hardest not to moan at the touch. Once again I felt my hands move up to his hair and grip it. Ace let go after a few more seconds and I began to breathe again. My hands moved to his shoulders and I looked at him angrily with a deep blush painted on me.

Ace chuckled and pulled me up a little closer to him. His arms wrapped around me in a hug and my arms hung loosely against his bare back. What the hell was with Pyro and messing with me?

"You still want me to leave Princess?" Ace asked and I wrapped my arms around his neck with a 'humph'. That was all Ace needed to know and he chuckled once again.

Ace pushed me back so that I was looking at him. He smiled at me as I looked at him confused. "You're my woman, well girl, now." Ace said. I wanted to argue about being owned but let the man continue. "Nobody else can touch you so don't go cheating on me." A smile spread on my lips and I closed my eyes.

"That should be my line." I said crossing my arms and looking away.

Ace smiled again and pulled me in for another hug. I didn't hug back. This time I just let him hold me. I closed my eyes once again and moved in a little closer to the freckled faced pirate.

* * *

Ace stared at the sleeping girl in front of him. He knew that he had said that Youko was his, but was it okay? Was it really okay for her to be his girl and all? She seemed fine by it, but she didn't know. Was he even allowed to? Maybe he should tell her?

Ace moved his hand up and moved a lock of hair out of Youko's face. Youko was sleeping soundly and the motion didn't disturb her. Ace smiled at the girl and finally wrapped an arm around her, hoping that it maybe just that would make her safe enough. That just that could protect her.

The next morning brought chaos. The first people who woke up had found Thatch stabbed and unconscious on the deck. The wound was deep but the doctor had been able to save him. They looked everywhere but could find no signs of who had injured their nakama. The only evidence was a bloody knife and Thatch himself but the man was still unconscious. Whoever had done was not just a normal person.

Thatch had been one of the commanders. He wasn't someone you could beat easily. Oyaji seemed to be deep in thought about what to do about this. If someone was targeting the people on his ship then his children would be in danger.

Ace looked around the deck and noted who was there. The doctor who had been treating Thatch and a few of the nurses were busy making sure the man was okay. People were doing thorough searches of the ship making sure that whoever it was wasn't still on the ship. Nobody seemed to be missing except…

"We couldn't find anything unusual." Ace turned to one of the searchers who was talking to Oyaji. "One of the life boats is gone but that's about it."

Youko seemed to be glancing around as well. Nothing seemed too out of place to her. She was sitting in her usual spot with Ace and Marco. Everyone was where they usually were. She hadn't noticed anything wrong when she had sat down along with everyone else. Just a piece of paper that was folded up and probably just a piece of trash… maybe.

Youko pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the poor handwriting that covered it. Youko narrowed her eyes as she began to read the script.

_If you ever get sick of  
being with Commander,  
come find me. I'll let you  
in my new crew  
-Teach_

Ace caught sight of the paper and took it from Youko. Youko stared at him but said nothing. Ace understood what it was but it still made him angry that someone else was after Youko.

"Teach is missing." Vista said acknowledging the absence of said member. Youko looked up at the name and caught sight of Ace who had burned the little note she had found.

"You know that could have helped."Marco said behind the man.

"Whoops." Ace said realizing what he had done.

"Idiot." Youko muttered under her breath as Marco went up to Oyaji to explain what had been found and utterly destroyed.

"We will have to wait for Thatch to wake up before we make accusations on anything." Oyaji said before grabbing his rum and drinking it. This gave the sign for everyone to go about their business and that they were to wait.

Youko looked at Ace curiously before smiling when she saw he had on what could be called a jealous face. Marco came back over to them and patted Ace on the back. Ace huffed and glanced over at the blue haired girl who had gone back to reading her book.

"Don't worry about it Ace." Marco said sitting on Youko's other side. "He didn't kidnap her or anything."

"Yeah, but he offered." Ace said looking at Youko earnestly.

Youko sighed and closed her book. Once again she would have to read it later. She looked at Ace and poked him in the forehead. "Quit brooding, I'm not leaving." She said standing up. Since she couldn't read the book, she might as well put it up.

* * *

Thatch woke up later that day. He had been out of it at first but was still able to tell them what had happened and said he was fine. Pretty much everyone jested.

"So he was after that devil fruit you found?" Youko asked the man. Thatch nodded. They were sitting in the hospital ward deciding to eat dinner with their friend. Ace and Marco stood near the bed while Youko occupied the chair.

"I guess he wanted it or something. Probably knew what it was." Thatch said to his friends.

"By why not just steal it and run away. Why did he attach you?" Youko asked taking a bite of the stew that was served for dinner.

"Rule of the ship is that if you find a devil fruit it's yours. You can do whatever you want with it, eat or sell it." Marco said looking at Ace. He hadn't been fast enough to stop the man from stealing some of his food. Ace seemed to do it less to Youko nowadays.

"Eh, so did he get it?" Youko looked at Thatch again. The man shook his head.

"I hid it somewhere out of habit." The man said eating his food before Ace got his hands on it as well.

"So he threatened you but you wouldn't tell him where it was." Ace said putting his bowl done. He really wanted more.

Thatch nodded again. Teach had given up once Thatch had lost consciousness. He really didn't have much determination when it came to things like this.

"Well, at least he didn't actually kill you." Youko said smiling.

"True." Thatch said laughing slightly.

"Okay you three, Thatch needs to rest."

They turned to Miku. The girl was standing in the doorway with a small scold on her face. Youko stood up and started to walk to the door not wanting to deal with the grouchy nurse. She started to walk past and caught the look that the blonde gave her. Youko flinched at the look and glared at the girl. Something about Miku really gave her the creeps.

* * *

HE'S LIVES! Yes, it is my fic and I declare that Thatch shall live and that Teach shall fail. He doesn't die but he still looses. I win this round... okay so technically Thatch does since he didn't die but you get the idea. I like Thatch so I decided to allow him to live and yes this had been planned. I never intended to have the One Piece World be the same. I also let luck have something to do with it.


	15. Meet Him

Like A Boy

Chapter 13 Meet Him

Nothing much seemed to happen after that. Thatch recovered, Teach was ignored and everybody seemed to go about their own business. Youko would read about the navigation and listen to Marco and Ace's fights. Thatch would join in most of the time and Jozu would watch silently. Lee would randomly come over and ask the girl questions and random pirates would come out of nowhere and try to kill them. Youko had to agree that everything was pretty much normal.

Well, at least it was until the News Coo came with the daily newspaper. A good amount of the guys actually bought it and Thatch was one of them. Youko never really bought one, more of just read off of the one that Thatch gets. Today he seemed to be more into reading it.

"A new rookie started up." He said looking at the article. Youko looked at the picture that was in the newspaper. As the man moved it a bit to allow her to be able to read it better, a small piece of paper fell out. It floated over to Ace who picked it up.

A large smile formed on Pyro's face as he looked at whatever was on. He then went over to Oyaji and pointed to whoever was on it.

"Check it out Old Man!" Ace said happily. "This kid is my brother!"

"You have a brother?" Marco asked looking at the kid on the wanted poster. Ace nodded happily.

"Monkey D. Luffy?" Youko said looking at it to. He had scruffy black hair and a large grin with a small scar under his left eye. From what she could tell in the picture there was a straw hat on his head.

"Yup, Luffy's younger than me by a few years so he had to wait to go out on the sea and become a pirate." Ace said with pride. His eyes lit up a bit when he saw the picture of the boy. He seemed happier talking about the teen.

"So that means this is the first time you've seen him in what, three years?" Thatch said looking at the younger man in front of him. The kid seemed to be around Youko's age.

"Yup, he should be seventeen now." Ace said looking at Youko. The girl seemed to be a little annoyed with the age.

"He's older than me…" she mumbled. Ace chuckled at her tone and went back to answering questions that a lot of the crew had to ask about the newly discovered sibling.

"Seems like Ace is really proud about his brother becoming a pirate." Marco said as he and Youko stood watching Ace being pummeled with questions.

"And worried." Youko said laughing at a small story she had overheard.

* * *

That night at dinner, Marco was getting his chance to talk to Ace. The man had pretty much been bombarded since he openly announced who Luffy was.

"Why don't you go and find him?" Marco suggested to his friend.

"Eh? I fcam sho thacht?" Ace asked with his mouth full of food.

Marco nodded understanding what the man said. "Oyaji won't mind if you go and see. He's your family isn't he?" Marco said with a small smile. Ace was predictable at sometimes.

Marco leaned in closer to Youko and whispered into her ear. "You can get some time with him till you find his brother." He whispered quietly. Youko looked at him shocked but kept quiet knowing that there was no point in arguing with the man.

* * *

That night I went to sleep a little earlier than usual. Ace followed me like I thought he might. I opened and closed the door and without even thinking much about it got undressed and then redressed. It had become usual for me to do this.

I started to walk towards the bed when Ace wrapped his arms around my waist. I stopped as my back came in contact with his chest. Ace leaned his head onto my shoulder. The skin contact was warm and I really didn't want to move.

"What are you doing Pyro?" I asked turning slightly so that I was touching my cheek to his. Ace chuckled softly and turned me around. He placed a kiss on my lips and then hugged me softly.

"I'm not gonna be able to do this for a while." He said quietly. One arm was wrapped around my back and the other on my head.

"Huh?" I questioned slightly glancing up at him. Ace looked down at me with a small smile.

"Oyaji gave me permission to meet my little brother. I'm going to be leaving tomorrow morning." He said quickly. Even though his voice was a bit sad, I picked up his excitement in being able to see his little brother again. I sighed and got out of his grip and continued to make my way to the bed.

Ace stared at my back as I got on to the bed and went under the covers. I turned to him and looked at him with an expression similar to Marco's. "Not going to bed?" I asked before turning back around. I smiled slightly as ace walked over to the bed in a rush.

* * *

Ace looked at Youko who was under the thin sheets and looking away from him. Did she not care that he was going to be gone for who knows how long? And that she wouldn't be able to see him for a while? Did it mean nothing to her? Ace was about to flip her over when he got the edge of a small smile.

His own grew on his lips as he carefully took off his boots and put a knee on the bed. The bed shifted slightly but Youko didn't move. Ace leaned over and put one hand on the other side of the girl. He was looming over the blue haired girl with a sly smile. Ace leaned a little closer in until his lips barely brushed against the girl's ear.

"What are you hiding?" he whispered slightly almost feeling the flinch the girl made when his breath hit her skin.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Youko said simply getting into a small ball trying to make herself seem smaller.

Ace's smile faded and he roughly turned Youko onto her back surprising the small girl. Ace was on top of her in an instant and smashing his lips against hers. Youko dug her nails into the man's back and struggled to get out of the other's grip.

When Ace finally let go of her she slapped him. Ace sat up but kept his legs on either side of her. He rubbed a hand along where the girl had slapped him and stared down at Youko who was breathing hard. He stopped his stare when he noticed a small tear that was forming in her eye.

He gently moved his hand down and whipped it away. Youko flinched at the soft touch but allowed it. Ace leaned forward putting his forehead on the pillow next to Youko.

"Sorry." He said standing up and getting his boots.

Youko sat up and watched him head towards the door. Ace looked at her before reaching for the door handle.

"Where are you going?" Youko asked looking at him. Ace turned his head and shrugged.

"To the deck." He said starting to open the door.

Youko's eyes widened as she rushed out of the bed and slammed the door shut. Her hands were on both sides of Ace's. The man looked down at the girl shocked. Youko kept her face down. Ace dropped his boots and wrapped his arms around the girl.

"You can do whatever the hell you want!" Youko began a little out of breath. "But goddammit don't think you can do something like that."

Youko placed her forehead on Ace's chest and shook a little. Ace looked down at her as something small and wet hit him. He lifted Youko's head up even though she resisted and saw that tears were beginning to form. Ace smiled fondly before bending down and kissing the underneath of her eye tasting the salt tears.

"So you can cry." He said lifting her up bridal style and caring her to the bed.

Ace placed Youko down and the girl looked up at him with a small pout. Ace was about to walk away again but Youko stopped him by grabbing his shorts. Ace looked down at the small girl who was looking away from him with a small blush on her face.

Ace couldn't help but tackle the girl in a hug. Youko yelped at the glomp but hugged back. A small smile on her lips at the fact that Ace wasn't leaving. She didn't want the man to leave.

* * *

Ace stared at his nakama before jumping down onto his Striker that was down below. He hadn't seen Youko that morning. When he had gotten up, she was already gone. He stared up at the ship before putting his bag on his back and got ready to leave.

"Oi, Pyro don't think you're able to leave without me."

Ace looked up at the ship again. Youko was standing on the railing and looking down at him. Her bag was on her back and she was wearing boots and knee length shorts and her usual top. A smile was on her face as she looked down at the man.

"Then you better damn hurry." He said smiling as the girl jumped down and easily balanced on the back of the yellow raft. Ace started it up and Youko turned around and waved at the rest of her family as they got farther and farther away from Moby Dick.

When the ship was out of sight she turned to Ace and smiled at him. Ace smiled back before messing up her hair. Youko protested but Ace just laughed. Youko joined in.

"What made you change your mind?" Ace asked.

"From what?" Youko questioned. "I planned on going with you since dinner."

Ace stared at the girl with wide eyes. That meant that all last night she had actually planned on going with him.

"Wait? Why didn't you tell me!" Ace asked the girl. He had done something like that to her out of a misunderstanding.

"Didn't want to." Youko said sticking her tongue out. Ace stared at her before grabbing her cheeks the same way he had done the second day she had been on the ship.

* * *

Luffy stared out at the water before him. It was rather boring waiting around for something to happen. Sure he was helping Vivi and that he was going against a Shishibukai and all but right now he was very bored and hungry. Why the hell did they have to be out of food already? All that was left was mostly given to the girls.

Luffy leaned back against the ram head of Merry and stared at the blue sky. Zoro was training, Usopp was attempting to catch fish and Sanji was doing something. He wasn't actually sure what the girls were doing and he didn't really care either. They weren't hungry like he was. Chopper was doing something somewhere.

He sat up and stared at the ocean once again. Nothing was wrong with it. Hadn't he heard screaming? Zoro looked up from his training and stared at his captain. Luffy had either spotted something stupid or dangerous. It was really hard to tell what it was.

"sssssstttttTTUUUPPPIIIIDDDDD BBBIIRDDD!"

Everyone on the main deck looked up to see a figure falling out of the sky. Whoever it was, was heading straight for the ship and coming down fast. Sanji came out from the kitchen when he heard the yelling. A heart popped in his eyes as he saw the person who was now dangling from the poles attached to the mast.

"Ah, sweet darling I'll catch you so go ahead and drop." The man said running underneath the girl.

Either the girl heard him or she had lost her grip but she fell and somehow Sanji was able to catch her. Sanji's eye trailed across the girl and he then realized that her eyes were looking at him slightly disapprovingly. Yeah, she had lost her grip.

"Ah pardon my rudeness mademoiselle." Sanji said putting her down.

Nami stared at the girl who was backing away from the blonde cautiously. She was around their age with really short blue hair. Similar to Vivi's but darker. He green eyes seemed to be hazy as if she was not fully awake.

Nami knocked Sanji out of the way before staring at the girl disapprovingly. Similar to how the blue haired stranger did to Sanji. Nami poked a finger at her chest wrinkling the light green t-shirt she was wearing.

"Who are you and how did you get here?" the teen asked staring the girl down. The blue haired girl didn't seem intimidated just a little shaken.

"My name's Youko. A stupid bird caught me and I got separated from my friend. He then dropped me and I landed here." The girl said.

"Ahh~ Youko, a beautiful name for a girl out in the ocean." Sanji said staring at Youko happily.

Youko backed away from him keeping down the sensation to hit him. The rest of the crew seemed to have their attention all on her. She didn't like the feeling of being watched and looked around nervously. Her eyes then landed on the one who was sitting on the head piece of the ship.

The boy was looking at her with a smile. A very recognizable smile. "You're the captain of this ship are you not?" Youko asked the boy.

Luffy nodded. He was going to stand up but as soon as he did his foot slipped and he fell overboard. Zoro was about to rush after him but a flash of blue stopped him. Youko had her shoes and bag off and was jumping overboard before he even had a chance to get a sword out of his haramaki.

The crew stared at the water and not long after the water smoothed out, Youko along with a semi-awake Luffy broke the surface. The girl tossed the man onto the ship surprising them. Luffy started to breath heavily as he lay on the deck. Youko climbed up the side and sat on the railing. She had gotten a view of the ship and it was rather small.

"Sorry, I should have probably let you get him. It's out of habit." The girl said running a hand through her wet hair.

"It's okay." Nami said with a sigh at her captain who was beginning to come around.

"Thanks." The teen said looking at the girl. Youko smiled at him before going over to her bag.

A girl with long blue hair handed Youko a towel the girl thanked her and began to dry her hair with it. The teen said that her name was Vivi. Youko introduced herself like she had done with the rest of the pirate crew.

"So you got separated from your friend?" Nami asked noticing the log post that was on the girl's wrist. Youko nodded.

"We were searching for someone and got separated. He knows how to navigate using the log post but that's about it. We were heading to Arabasta." Youko said laughing a bit and remembering what Ace had told her that one day.

"We're heading there too." Luffy said smiling happily. "We can take you there."

"Eh, but that would be rude." The girl said trying to get out of it.

"No problem you saved me." Luffy said with a smile. "Why don't you join my crew?"

Sanji became happy with the request that Luffy gave the blue haired girl. Youko continued to smile.

"I'm glad you're giving me a ride to Arabasta." She said looking at the teen. The green haired man seemed to catch her look. "But I'll have to decline on the last part. I have my reasons."

"No." Luffy said defiantly.

"No, what?" Youko asked getting a bad feeling.

"No to your decline." He said sternly though it wasn't actually serious. "I already decided that you're going to be in my crew."

"DON'T GO DECIDING THOSE SORTS OF THINGS ON YOUR OWN!" Youko said ramming her foot into the teen's head. Luffy's head went back stretching far more than normal but he did trip and crashed over his own feet.

"What sort of devil fruit do you have." Youko asked him questionably.

"I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi." Luffy said happily grabbing his cheek and ignoring the attack he had just received. "I'm a rubber man."

"I think I just got myself into some deep shit." Youko said as once again Luffy said that she was part of his crew.

* * *

As requested from many people I have Luffy being saved by Youko. I wanted to add Luffy in because I love writing about him so this gave me a reason to. Since Ace isn't going after BB I needed a reason for him to look for Luffy and such so if you want me to do what the anime did and make Ace stay in for a while, I will. But if you want it to be a 'hi, you're alive, that's good by' like the manga I will also do that. Well hope you enjoyed and I did have fun doing the little fight.


	16. Finally in Arabasta

Like A Boy

Chapter 14 Finally in Arabasta

During the trip to Arabasta I learned that Vivi was actually the princess of the kingdom and that Crocodile was trying to take over. I had heard about the man from Marco before. Apparently he had a thing against Oyaji because he beat him before. Luffy was trying to beat the croc now I guess.

I also learned that Luffy had eaten all the food that the crew had and that meant pretty much nothing for us. They were attempting fishing but catching nothing. Well, when they used Carue as bait they got an Okama. That had been interesting and a note to self. Never fish with a giant duck or you could catch a queer.

The man called himself Bon Kurei and him and Luffy pretty much hit it off. Apparently Luffy can make friends with anybody. I thought his Akuma no Mi ability was pretty awesome though it seemed to freak out the rest of the crew. They weren't used to seeing the different kinds there were.

I thought it was weird though that he was an Okama but he was flirting with Vivi but I guess he can like who he wants. That kinda reminded me of Pyro. From the first night I was sleeping on the ship till now I've been thinking about him.

Ever since the night before we left and he had been rough with me, Ace was more cautious and didn't touch me as much. Since then he never kissed me and we even slept apart as much as possible on his Striker. I was scared when Ace did that but even though he was right by me the whole trip here, it was really lonely. I guess this is what it feels like when you like someone who is right next to you but you can't touch them. Am I wrong about that?

Well, the guy touched my face which kinda creeped me out and transformed into me. I thanked Kami-sama that he didn't drop his clothes with my figure like he did with Nami's. If he had they would have probably seen my mark and I would probably be overboard.

I figured out that Zoro pretty much has full suspicion about me. Luffy nags me pretty much every day about joining his crew and every day I tell him that I can't be his nakama. Zoro notices my rejections and they seem to interest him. Maybe it was the fact that I'm not as annoyed with Luffy as they all were when they first joined. They had all told me the stories.

That might come from being stuck with Pyro and the other guys. I looked up at the sky as the island came into view. The first place we saw was Nanohana. It was a fairly large city with what looked like it held a lot of shops. We went up to the port and as soon as the ship was anchored, Luffy ran off screaming about food.

"GET BACK HERE YOU IDIOT!" pretty much all of the crew yelled it at the same time. I burst into laughter as the captain ran through the crowd of people.

* * *

The small group decided not to stay on the ship and to go into town. Vivi had spotted a small ship that apparently belonged to one of the people after her. Everybody stayed on the outskirts and in the ruins. But they couldn't stay there for long.

"We need clothes that will help us blend in." Vivi said as the group sat in the shade of the ruins. Chopper was already beginning to feel the effects of the Arabastian heat. Pour reindeer.

"Sanji-kun go get them." Nami ordered the blond. Sanji had a heart pop in his eye as he obeyed the red head.

"Why him?" Youko questioned.

"Sanji-san and Tony-kun are the only two who Mr. 3 doesn't know." Vivi said explaining what had happened on Little Garden.

"Okay, Sanji if you don't mind I'll get my own clothes." Youko said heading out from behind the ruins with her hands in her pockets.

"Hai Youko-chan." Sanji said heading into a different direction than the girl.

"Why do I have a feeling that we should've asked Youko-san to get our clothes too?" Vivi asked looking at the blond who was being followed by a wary Chopper. She was getting better and better at understanding how the crew worked.

* * *

Luffy stared around him, sand, sand and even more sand. "WHERE THE HELL AM I AND WHERE IS ALL THE FOOD!" the teen screamed before collapsing. He stood up and noticed the shape of what looked like a town. He then saw floating meat and made a dashed towards that direction.

* * *

Youko walked around. She had the bag of the coat she had bought one her arm and a hat on her head. She was searching for Ace incase he was in the town. If not, she would travel with Luffy and the rest of them for a while until she did find him.

The hat she wore was similar to Ace's but was a dark blue and didn't have the beads and smiley. There was a white ribbon around it with a panda smiley on it. Youko always loved pandas so she got it. Plus with the heat, this thing would come in handy.

She spotted Zoro and Usopp along with Chopper and walked over to them. "What's up?" she asked as they looked at her. Nami pulled her behind the jar that they were hiding behind. Youko raised an eyebrow at the dancer girl outfit she was wearing and thanked Kami-sama she had gotten her own clothes.

"A Whitebeard Commander is looking for Luffy and a marine fleet is here." Zoro said quickly before they rushed out and headed towards the ruins that they had been hiding in.

* * *

Whitebeard Commander looking for Luffy… oh crap that was why Luffy seemed so familiar. He was Ace's little brother. I can't believe I didn't realize that sooner. Man when Ace finds out he won't let me live it down.

We hid behind the ruins quickly and stayed low. We ate the first food that we got since we got here while we were at it. I was thankful for it. Sanji had gotten Vivi a dancer girl outfit as well and I looked down at the other stuff he had gotten. They had a lot to carry.

"Youko-chan, are you sure you don't want a dancer outfit, I can go get you one." Sanji asked me with a heart in his eye. I looked at him and smiled.

"Thanks Sanji, but I don't like clothes like that." I said looking out from the ruins. Zoro instantly pulled me back as a group of marines came rushing past.

"They must be after some idiotic pirate." Zoro said taking a sip of his whiskey.

"Idiotic pirate?" pretty much everyone questioned.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"CAPTURE MUGIWARA NO LUFFY!"

* * *

"YOU!" they all turned to see their captain being chased by a bunch of marines.

"Ah Zoro." Luffy said noticing his first mate. Zoro paled at the recognition and yelled at his captain who was coming towards him.

"Idiot, don't come until you get rid of them." He said as Luffy ran past them grabbing one of the barrels.

"RUN!" Luffy hollered behind him. Everyone did grabbing random stuff. Youko snagged a barrel of water and had a bag of food over her shoulder.

The marines followed and Youko turned around in time to see a captain ranked soldier come to the fornt. The man raised a fist and shot white smoke towards the group. Shit, he was a logia type.

"HIKEN!"

Everyone in the group stopped as a burst of flames erupted and another person stood in front of them, in between them and the marines. Luffy stared at the man in shock while Youko sighed at Ace's entrance.

"Ace… ah it is Ace." Luffy said smiling at the man. The man turned towards the other teen and smiled.

"You never do change, do you Luffy." Ace said before glancing at Youko. The girl raised an eyebrow and he gestured for her to go with them.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll handle this guy." Ace said facing the smoking captain.

"Let's go." Luffy said running once more. They followed suit but not without question.

"Ne, Luffy, who is that?" Nami asked her captain as they ran through the streets that were busy watching whatever show Ace was putting on.

"That's Ace, he's my older brother." Luffy said smiling.

"Older brother?" they questioned. Youko looked at Luffy before going back to watching straight ahead. They continued to run until a split in the road came.

Vivi told them to go left and they did so. None of them noticed that Luffy had gone in the wrong direction. He had been running backwards, still watching the fight that Ace and Smoker were having.

* * *

They made it to the Merry Go and were beginning to load things up. Everybody began to run around and prepare to set sail. Chopper questioned Vivi about leaving the island so soon but the princess assured him that the stop was only to replenish supplies and that they were going farther into the sand country.

Youko looked at the sky. She had found Ace and the man had seen her and knew she was with his brother's crew. It was all up to him on what to do know… wait a minute.

"It seems that we're missing something." Usopp said looking at the sea in front of him from where he stood at the helm.

"And the person we're missing is the most important one." Zoro said obviously annoyed.

"WHERE THE HELL IS LUFFY!" they yelled. Youko burst out laughing at the captain's absence.

* * *

"Hm, that's weird." Luffy looked down the alleyway that he was in. "Where is everybody?"

"Man, you don't even look like you're trying to escape." Luffy looked up as the shadow of his brother fell on him.

"Ah, Ace." Luffy said as his brother jumped down from the top of the roof.

"Yo." Ace said smiling. "It's been a while Luffy."

"I can say the same for you." Luffy said earning a laugh from the freckled faced man.

"That was an unpleasant greeting in the restaurant." Ace said remembering how Luffy had rammed into Smokey which had resulted in him going through a few walls himself.

"Restaurant?" Luffy asked questionably.

Ace sighed. Of course Luffy wouldn't remember. Their hands locked together and prepared their little arm wrestling competition. This resulted in the barrel breaking spraying the water everywhere. They let their hands go and clasped the other ones together.

"Guess we're still the same." Luffy said smiling.

"I guess so." Ace said.

"What are you doing in this country?" Luffy asked his older brother. Ace pulled out a canteen from his bag and took a sip.

"I came to look for you and other minor business." Ace said tossing it to the teen. Luffy caught and looked at his brother questionably.

"I'm with the Whitebeard pirates now. Why don't you join, your nakama too of course." Ace offered. Luffy took and drink.

"No." the teen said simply. Ace laughed.

"Thought no, just thought I'd ask." Ace said smiling. Luffy looked at him. "Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I've ever met. I plan on making him the pirate king. Not you Luffy."

"That's fine by me. He's just another person I'm going to have to fight." Luffy said as if Whitebeard was just another pirate.

Ace smiled as Luffy continued to drink.

"OI DON'T HOG IT ALL!"

* * *

"So what's your crew like?" Ace asked as they walked down the alley to try and find the teen's ship.

"Well, I have a swordsman who wants to be the best in the world." Luffy began. "A navigator who likes money, maps and mikans."

Ace noticed the gathering men around them but Luffy continued oblivious. "I also have a cook who can make anything and a liar. Oh and there's also a reindeer."

"Sounds just like you to run a small pirate crew." Ace said gesturing towards the gathering crowd around them.

"All we need is a musician." Luffy said causing Ace to sweat drop. This guy… "We're traveling with a princess and a large duck right know. There's also this other girl called Youko but she said she won't join no matter how hard I ask her. She says she's looking for someone in this country."

Ace narrowed his eyes at the name. He had seen Youko with them but she hadn't exactly expected her to be traveling with Luffy and his crew. Luffy was also very stubborn when it came to people becoming his nakama.

"Stop right there Fire Fist Ace."

The two brothers stopped and stared at the men around them. A rather large one came out and smiled cocky like to the two.

"As you can tell there's no escape for you so just give up your head. Today is the day you die." The man said.

"Hey isn't that…" one began to say looking at Luffy. "Ah that's Mugiwara no Luffy, the thirty million beri bounty."

"Hiken no Ace and Mugiwara no Luffy. Today we are really lucky. There's no way we won't get number agents with this." The man said. He looked at the spot that the two had been and found it vacant.

"Let's find your crew. Let's check out the beach." Ace said walking pass the man.

"Okay." Luffy said ignoring the man as well.

Said man turned to the brothers with his face red with rage and embarrassment of being ignored. He shot around instantly and yelled at the group to attack the brothers who were happily chatting.

Luffy shot sideways as men began to swing swords at him. The slope they were on made it hard to grip onto the ground causing him to slip slightly. Luffy was still able to easily dodge the oncoming pursuers however.

Ace was fine to. He apologized as he knocked down the normal humans and easily prevented himself from being shot. He turned and stood as Luffy was dog piled. The teen's arms stretched out and gripped a clothes line above him scaring and knocking people off of him.

The men still standing took aim and shot the teen. Ace sighed as the bullets bounced off and rammed into the people around him. "DON'T DO THAT THAT SCARED ME!" Luffy shouted as people ran away. He dropped to the ground making sure that his precious was still on his head.

The man at the head pulled out one of his swords and ran towards Luffy swinging it at the rubber boy. Luffy dodged it easily but he was falling backwards down the slope. Ace stepped in and gripped the sword before it could pursue Luffy anymore.

Luffy stretched back his arms as Ace lit the sword on fire causing its owner to release it due to the heat that was on his hands. Luffy's own hands came back and rammed into the man's gut sending him flying up the alley and out of the city becoming a shine in the distance.

Luffy adjusted his hat before he and his brother continued to walk to the beach. They heard the scream of another but ignored it. As they walked along the alley, Luffy noticed the sea and ran towards it. Ace followed and asked Luffy if he saw his ship.

Luffy looked around but finally spotted it in the distance. Ace noticed the guys following them and sighed. "Damn you guys are persistent, Luffy you go one ahead and he ain't listening…" Ace sighed as his brother was already gone.

* * *

"I spotted Luffy." Nami said from the crow's nest. Youko lifted her head from the book in her lap. Usopp questioned it but Sanji confirmed it instantly.

"What's he doing…?" before Sanji had a chance to finish he and Chopper were rammed by said captain.

"Tony-kun Sanji-san." Vivi exclaimed as the two lay on the deck with the hyperactive captain on top. Zoro sighed as Youko tried to hold back her laughter. This guy was really funny.

"Mo~ Luffy, do you have any clue how much trouble you put us through?" Nami said as she climbed down the rope that helped keep the mast up.

"Sorry." Luffy said leaning back and looking up at her. "Ah, Ace."

Youko and Zoro climbed the stairs that led to the balcony that they were on as Luffy ran to the railing that was in the direction of the island.

"You're brother was with you?" Nami asked. Luffy turned around and nodded.

"Yeah, but Ace can take care of himself." Luffy said. Youko snickered knowing how that was limited.

"Is he really that strong?" Chopper asked his captain.

"Ah," Luffy said looking down at the reindeer. "I remember when we were kids, even before Ace ate the Akuma no Mi, I could never beat him once."

His crew stared at Luffy shocked. Youko had never seen the rubber boy in an actual fight before so she didn't know exactly how strong he was. "You lost to a normal human?" Nami asked surprised.

"The older brother of a monster must be a super monster." Usopp said emphasizing the super part. _They had no clue_ Youko thought.

"Yeah, but I can beat him now." Luffy said throwing back his head and laughing.

"That's a groundless statement." Zoro muttered sweat dropping at his captain.

"And just who…" Luffy instantly shot off of the railing as Ace came down and slammed on it. "Can you beat?" Ace finished his sentence and bowed to the crew slightly.

"Ah, you must be Luffy's crew, he has been in your hands and I thank you for watching him. He must be a handful." Ace said bowing once again.

"Ah, he has." The crew said simultaneously.

"He will probably burn your hands a few times." Ace continued noticing Youko behind the long nosed guy.

"Ah he has." They said once again.

"I can't believe this." Sanji said looking at Ace.

"I expected Luffy's brother to be more like him."

"There's no way Luffy's brother could be so polite."

"Brotherhood is such a good thing."

"Oh come on guys, seriously." Vivi said trying not to say something rude herself.

"Why don't you come in for some tea and snacks." Sanji offered bringing a cigarette to his lips.

Ace bowed. "Thanks, but I don't want to impose." He bowed again and lit up the man's cigarette scaring him slightly.

"Where have you been?"

The crew turned to Youko as the girl walked up to the freckled face man. Ace smiled wider and lifted a hand to greet the blue haired girl who was walking up to him with a small scold on her face. He knew very well that the girl was playing with him.

"Hey Youko, so this is where you've been." Ace said acting as if he hadn't missed her. Youko frowned and wacked his head sending Ace to the floor of the deck.

The rest of Luffy's crew stared in shock as the girl knocked the man down. Ace sat up and glared at Youko who gladly returned it.

"Wait, so this is the man you were looking for?" Nami asked pointing to Ace.

"Nope, actually we were looking for Luffy, Ace is the friend I was traveling with." The girl said pointing to the man who was standing beside her.

"Wait, does that mean you're a Whitebeard pirate?" Zoro asked the girl. Youko smiled and gripped the edge of her shirt.

Without any problem, Youko took her shirt off. Ace tried his hardest not to blush at the action and Sanji became wiggly as the girl removed the fabric to reveal a black bikini and her mark. Zoro stared at it completely unaffected by the stripping part.

"Yup." Youko said putting the shirt on the railing. She was glad to be rid of the annoying thing. It had been really restricting wearing it.

"So that's why you denied Luffy's requests." Vivi said staring at the mark. It was exactly like the one on Ace's back. Youko nodded.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Nami asked the girl kinda angry.

"I needed the ride and I didn't exactly recognize Luffy. Being surrounded by idiots like him…" the girl pointed to Ace who stared at her shocked. "I guess I got some of it."

"You weren't exactly smart to start with." Ace said crossing his arms. Youko looked at him before slamming her elbow in to his stomach. Ace buckled as Youko continued to smile at the pirate crew.

"HIKEN NO ACE, MUGIWARA NI LUFFY! GET READY TO HAND OVER YOUR HEADS!"

The group turned to a large fleet of ships. "Billions…" Vivi said looking at them shocked at their sudden appearance.

"I'll take care of them." Ace said casually.

"Need any help?" Youko asked. Ace smiled and jumped down to his Striker after shaking his head. Youko shrugged and the crew gathered to watch Ace in action.

Youko sat on the railing as other members of the crew questioned whether Ace would be alright or not.

"Just sit back." Zoro began "And watch how strong the second division commander of the Whitebeard crew really is."

Luffy watched excitedly as his brother knocked his Striker under the water and jumped over the ship. The lower part of Ace's body burst into flames and he flipped around before landing on the boat as it emerged on the other side of the fleet.

Ace quickly turned around and readied his fist before shooting the flames at the ships erupting them in a blast of flames and finally sinking all of them down. The crew stared at the man in amazement while Youko sighed. "Show off." She mumbled.

"TO OUR NEW NAKAMA ACE AND YOUKO! KAMPAI!" Chopper, Luffy and Usopp said slamming their barrel like mugs together. Ace who was sitting on a barrel looked at them with a sweat drop.

"Who said I was going to be your nakama?" Ace questioned. Youko just laughed. She was leaning against the barrel right under the man. Youko looked up at him and smiled.

"Don't worry about it, those guys will find anything to kampai about." Nami said waving it off. Like she said, the boys were kampaing about everything.

"Ne, Ace are you really going to be our nakama?" Luffy asked with meat in his mouth as he turned to his brother.

Ace took a sip of his drink and looked at the group. "I came to Arabasta to find you and to find someone else." Ace said earning full attention of the crew.

"Originally it was just to find and see you, but we heard a rumor about a certain man and I can't talk Pyro out of finding him." Youko said with a shrug. She looked up at Ace and the man looked between his crossed legs to smile at the girl. "Be lucky I was able to get Oyaji's permission for this."

"We're looking for a man named Blackbeard." Ace said. Vivi looked at him.

"That's the pirate that ransacked Drum Kingdom." She said. Ace nodded, that was how they had found out about him.

"He committed a crime, the greatest on a pirate ship. He attempted to kill a crewmate and then fled the ship. Thatch lived however and Oyaji dropped it because he had a bad feeling about Teach." Youko said calmly continuing to drink.

"Like Youko, Blackbeard was one of my subordinates. He's my responsibility so the fact that he attacked and nearly killed a nakama means it's my responsible to go after him." Ace said though he knew Youko was scolding what he said. Ace looked at her apologetically.

"So Youko-san is just a regular pirate member?" Vivi asked meaning that her first impression was that Youko was a high ranking officer.

"Not exactly but she is probably the next person to become a commander." Ace said.

"Eh?" Youko looked at Ace confused. Her bounty had risen twice since the second event but it still wasn't passing two hundred million. How the hell could she make it to the rank of Commander?

"Yeah, we were talking about it one day." Ace said. "Anyway, the information we got says that he's been spotted in Yuba so that's where we're going."

Vivi pulled out a map of Arabasta and put it on the ground. Ace and Youko along with Nami looked at it. Vivi pointed to the place marked Nanohana. "If we travel along the canal and go inward, we will make it to Erumaru. After stopping there we will cross the desert to Yuba." She said trailing along the path that would be taken.

"Looks like you two will be travelling with us for a while." Luffy said happily.

"With you guys along this will be cinch." Usopp said.

"Let's go this smells like and adventure!" Luffy said and all of them slammed their mugs together.

"AYE!"

* * *

Yay another chapter and a long one a that. I will probably have a few others for this up before the weekend ends because I can't watch the episodes during the week so expect a fair amount of updates. If you don't they will be back up next weekend. They might all be around the same length as this one. I know it's kinda rushed at the beginning but I needed to keep up with what was going on. Thank you sunberg-ceres with your help of pointing out some things I missed and like promised I'm adding them in^^

I hope you enjoyed this and I hope I didn't mess it up too much and that it isn't too cliche or whatever it would be if it is messed up. I'm tired now so I'm going to go now though another story might be updated tonight and that is a big might.


	17. Dugongs and Dance Powder

Like A Boy

Chapter 15 Dugongs and Dance Powder

Youko sat next to Ace in the kitchen of the Merry Go. Sanji had gone to tell Vivi that they had tea ready so the two pirates were watching Usopp and Luffy. They were having fun messing with the food Sanji was making for their trip across the desert.

Youko was trying her hardest not to laugh at the scene while Ace just smiled at the game. Usopp stuck his finger in one of the onigiri that had the seaweed like his hair that it represented him and walked it up Luffy's poorly made food man.

Youko put a hand on Ace's shoulder and placed her forehead on it gripping her stomach. Ace looked at his girl who seemed to be at a point where if the scene continued she wouldn't be able to stop herself from laughing.

"QUIT PLAYING WITH THE FOOD!" Sanji slammed two frying pans onto the boy's heads making them drop the food.

"If you have enough time to play then wash the dishes." Sanji said rolling up his sleeves and going to the sink. The two did so. "Man, I'm trying to make food for the trip and their playing."

"Need any help?" Ace offered. Youko stopped leaning on the man as Sanji turned to the two of them.

"Nah, you're a guest just relax." The blonde said before going back to what he had been doing. Ace smiled at this and turned his attention back to his brother and Usopp. "OI DON'T CLEAN THE DISHES WITH THE DIRTY RAGS!"

* * *

"Nami-san, can we anchor the ship for a second?" Vivi asked the red haired navigator while clutching a thick piece of paper. Nami turned to the girl questionably but nodded.

"I have an errand I need you to do Carue." The blue haired princess said holding up the piece of paper in her hands. "This holds everything Igaram and I uncovered about Baroque's Works. Also tells that I'm alive and well and am bringing strong-willed nakama with me."

The pirates looked at the girl as she stared at the large duck. Youko was sitting on the railing with Ace and Zoro while the rest were on the small embankment they were at. Vivi continued.

"You're going to have to cross the desert by yourself, will you be able to handle it, Carue?" the girl asked. The duck was nervous but saluted the girl saying he could do it. Vivi smiled. "Be safe and ration your water."

After the letter was in the pouch that was around the duck's neck, Carue ran a distance. He then stopped and took two large sips of water before dashing off again. "I told you to ration your water!" Vivi called as the duck disappeared.

"I've heard that Crocodile was in this country, but a pirate settling in one place, what a bad joke." Ace said turning around and leaning against the railing. Youko looked at the man questionably along with Zoro.

"There might be something else about this whole takeover." He said standing up and walking off of the back deck. "A deeper motive." Zoro raised an eyebrow as Youko followed the man.

"YOSH LET'S SET SAIL!" Luffy yelled as soon as he was on the ship.

"Oi I'm not on yet!" Usopp said as he was half way up the rope ladder.

* * *

After a while the rocky shore that they were going to be anchoring at came in to view. Chopper was walking with Nami as the girl walked down the stairs.

"The desert must be hot." The reindeer said sliding down the railing.

"I heard it can get to over fifty degrees Celsius." Nami said. Chopper stared at her shocked.

"AHH NAMI-SWAN WHERE'S YOUR DANCER GIRL OUTFIT!" Sanji yelled noticing the white jacket that covered the girl completely. "AAHH VIVI-CHAN NOT YOU TOO!"

"But Sanji-san, if we don't cover up the sun will burn us." The girl said handing a jacket to Luffy who thanked her.

"Ah, my beautiful dancer girls." Sanji said rolling in a circle on the deck.

Youko walked up to him and stood above the man. "You okay Sanji?" the girl asked looking down at the man. Sanji instantly shot up and looked at the girl.

Youko was wearing her usual shorts with the black bikini she had kept wearing now revealing her mark. Instead of wearing a girl's jacket, she was wearing a guy's that was open and too big on her. It was black with a light blue wrap around her neck and had blue swirls almost like waves at the cuffs of the sleeves and hem of the jacket.

A heart popped into Sanji's eye as he got to see the full view of the girl. Ace came down in a similar attire except his wrap was white and he had flames on his jacket. He looked at the two in time to see Sanji begin to flirt with the girl.

Before Sanji got a chance to grab a hold of Youko's hand, Ace had his arms wrapped around the girl and was glaring at the blonde. Sanji froze when he saw the embrace. Youko looked up at Ace even though it was difficult with the man's head being on hers.

"Oi, I know you're a guest and Luffy's brother but what the hell do you think you're doing with your arms around Youko-chan like that?" Sanji asked clearly pissed. Youko seemed more of bored than anything else. Nami decided to prevent the fight that was bound to happen.

"Youko, you need to cover up more." She said pushing Sanji away. Ace let go of the girl but stayed right behind her. "And you need shoes."

"Boo~" the girl said as Ace lifted up hers. "Can't I go without them and Pyro's wearing less than me." The girl glared at the shoes.

"If you don't want to wear them, I'll carry you the whole way." Ace suggested. That got Sanji on him again.

"Give me those." Youko said snatching the black boots and trying to hide her blush from the offer.

"What the hell do you mean carry Youko-chan, you had better stay away from her." Sanji said glaring at Ace. The man smiled before grabbing a hold of Youko's face and forcing her to turn to him.

Sanji watched as Ace kissed the blue haired girl very easily. Youko waved her hands up and down fast as the man continued the kiss. Nami and Vivi smiled as Zoro sighed. When Ace finally stopped the kiss he wrapped his arm around the small girl's shoulder.

Youko's face was covered by the hat she wore but the blush that was on her face was defiantly evident. This time it had really gotten to her because this was the first time Ace had kissed her in so long. And it had been in front of other people too. She lifted her face up and glanced up at Ace with a small pout.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the girl asked. "Don't just randomly kiss me in front of other people. Punishment, I get your hat." Youko grabbed Ace's hat and walked away. The one she wore was around her neck and she placed the orange one on her head.

Ace stared at the girl not exactly realizing that his hat was gone. Youko put her hand on her hip and turned the upper part of her body around using her finger to lift the hat like Ace had done before. She stuck her tongue out at the man before continuing to the kitchen where her stuff was. Ace ran after her when he saw his hat.

"Luffy you and your brother are really different, you know that right?" Nami said glancing at Sanji who was now mopping in the corner.

"Yup." Luffy said happily. He smiled at where his brother and Youko had been.

* * *

Everybody was beginning to disembark as they drew closer to the rocky cliff. Before they could however an animal hopped onto the cliff. Everybody stared at the thing.

"A turtle?" Zoro questioned.

"Don't you mean a seal?" Luffy said looking at the thing.

"Kung Fu Dugongs." Vivi said as even more appeared.

The thing started to talk and Chopper translated. "This here is our territory; if you want to disembark here you have to beat me. Is what he said." Chopper said looking at Nami. Ace just watched the animals with Youko next to him.

Usopp put his foot on the railing. "Heh, leave this to me, I won't let a simple dugong make fun of me." He said before jumping off the ship.

"Usopp wait, Kung Fu Dugongs are really strong." Vivi said but it was too late. Usopp already had his ass handed to him.

"We have a winner over here." Nami said gesturing over to where Luffy was standing over a beaten dugong.

"That's even worse!" Vivi said.

"Can I try?" Youko asked looking at Ace.

"No." Ace said simply taking a hold of the girl's shoulder to prevent her from actually going after the animals. Youko booed but noticed that the dugong Luffy had beaten was looking at him with sparkles in his eyes. Luffy questioned this.

"The code of the dugongs says that they are to be the disciple of whoever beats them." Vivi said.

"Hardcore martial arts." Zoro commented before looking back to his captain who was now surrounded by the things.

"HE GOT MORE DISCIPLES WHILE WE WERE TALKING!" Vivi said as Luffy began to train the animals.

* * *

"Yosh let's go." Luffy said once they got all their stuff on land.

"Wait a minute…" Zoro said "THEY AREN'T COMING TOO!"

Behind Luffy were the dugongs. They had lined up and were ready to follow their new master. Luffy questioned why he couldn't bring his new friends with him.

"Luffy, the dugongs can't possibly cross the desert." Vivi said trying to be reasonable. The dugongs grabbed Luffy's legs and began to rub against them.

"C-cute~" Nami and Vivi said before looking away. They felt really bad for being mean to the things.

"Pandas are cuter." Youko said looking away from the things. Ace smiled at her from beneath the hat he had somehow gotten back from her. She was going to steal it permanently one day.

"I know." Chopper said sniffing around the bags. He pulled out a piece of meat and gestured towards the animals. "I'll give you this if you stay here."

The dugongs released Luffy and decided to bombard Chopper. In the end, their food supply went down but the dugongs stayed to watch the ship for them. Luffy was still questioning why he couldn't bring the animals with him.

* * *

They walked along the dunes and finally up a sand dune. Vivi stopped at the top and turned to the group. "Is this Yuba?" Luffy asked looking at the town in front of him.

The buildings were leaning and in some places you could only see part of them. The trees were either on the ground or barely standing with dried up yellow leaves. Some of the buildings were destroyed all together and lay in ruin.

"No," Vivi said "This is the green city of Erumalu"

"Doesn't look green to me, isn't this supposed to be an oases?" Usopp asked looking around.

"Yes, but as you can tell it isn't anymore. This here shows you just how much Crocodile's work has affected this country." The girl said continuing to walk through the deserted city.

"Rain hasn't fallen in Arabasta for three years." The group flinched. Youko raised an eyebrow. "This hasn't happened for a thousand years. But there was always a place where it rained and that was in the capital, Alubarna where the royal palace was. Because of that, people called it the king's miracle."

"No rain hit this region making it dry up." Zoro said looking throughout the city.

"But why not just draw water from the river we came up from?" Usopp asked pointing a thumb back towards the direction of the ship.

"The answer is right ahead." Vivi said leading the group to what looked like a sunken down road.

"Vivi-chan, what is this?" Sanji asked looking at the sand covered path.

"This is the canal that was used to draw water from the Sandora River but somehow it was mysteriously destroyed." Vivi said. The group continued to walk along the destroyed canal through the city.

"One day at the port of Nanohana, a supply cart was tipped over. The cart was supposed to go to Alubarna. What it was carrying was Dance Powder." Vivi said stopping.

"Dance Powder?" Usopp questioned.

"It was created by a researcher in a country that never got rain." Nami said. "By burning it the smoke goes into the air and turns premature clouds into mature rain clouds."

"Ah, that must be that mystery powder." Luffy said smiling. "That stuff tastes nasty."

"It's not food." Nami said passing by him.

"So it creates rain, that's good right?" Usopp said passing the captain as well.

"OI, YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME DO YOU! OI I'M TELLING THE TRUTH!" Luffy began to dance around and yell but was ignored.

"Right, but the problem is that it prevents countries downwind from getting any rain. Because of that, a war broke out and became a massacre. After that the production and holding of it became illegal." Nami said.

Youko patted Luffy on the back as he poked at the sand for being ignored.

"When people saw the dance powder, they began to lose trust in the king, some was also found in the palace." Vivi said.

"Ah, Vivi you're father is a crook!" Luffy said pointing a finger at the princess.

"IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT!" Sanji yelled at the teen whacking him in the head with his foot. "WHY WOULD VIVI-CHAN'S FATHER DO THAT!"

"Papa did nothing, it was all his fault." Vivi said looking at the ground. Ace glanced up from the ground to watch the princess.

"It's all Crocodile's fault. He's the one who did this. I will never forgive him." The girl said clenching her fist tightly.

Vivi shot her head up as the wind began to blow. The wind wrapped around them and a moaning sound filled their ears. Zoro got defensive while Usopp began to panic and look around. Ace and Youko stayed where they were.

"Is it assassins from Baroque?" Usopp asked looking around at the buildings. "Oi, what are going to do bro!" the long nosed man looked at Ace.

"Don't worry." Ace said. "It's just the wind."

"It sounds like voices to me." Luffy said looking back at his brother.

"It's hitting the ruins and reverberating off." Youko said. Sanji looked at her with a heart in his eye.

"You are so smart Youko-chan." He said. Ace gave the man a look. They didn't get a chance to continue because the wind picked up harshly.

The blast rammed into them forcing them back. Youko and Ace quickly grabbed their hats. Youko slid back into Ace a bit but the man prevented her from flying away. When the wind finally went past them, Luffy was staring at where it had left.

He glanced back and saw what seemed to be someone lying on the ground. "Is someone still living here?" Vivi asked as she followed the man. Luffy stopped and Vivi froze.

On the ground was a fairly old skull that was broken and cracked. The bottom jaw was missing and it was stained with sand. Vivi knelt down and gently picked up what used to be a person who lived in her country.

"What has Papa or the people of this country done?" she asked. Her eyes were tearless. "What have we done to deserve this? Why the hell is he doing this to us?"

Zoro and Ace stared in the direction that Luffy, Usopp and Sanji had gone into. Vivi looked up at the sound of crashing and Luffy's yells. Ace smiled at this. "Man, those guys are such kids." Zoro said with a sigh.

Ace knelt down and began to dig a hole for the skull while Youko found a stick. Ace put it in the ground while Luffy got his stuff back on. He looked at Vivi with a serious face. "Show me where that croc is." He said. Vivi nodded and stood up and the group left the dried up oases.

* * *

Next chapter. This is only one episode so there will be a few Arabasta chapters. I know it's not as long as the last chapter but I hope it's okay. If I made any mistake with the information in it can you tell me so I can fix it. I'm pretty much going by memory here. Well, see you later.


	18. Scorching Heat and a Camel

Like A Boy

Chapter 16 Scorching Heat and a Camel

"AAAHHH!"

"AAAHHH!"

"That's enough with the 'aahhs' Luffy, you'll wear yourself out." Nami said waving her in front of her face to help cool herself down.

"My throat is dry, can't even sweat anymore." Luffy said. He was using a stick to keep himself up.

"I can handle the cold, but not the heat." Chopper said panting heavily. Zoro was dragging him on a little sled that they had made. The deer had pretty much had it after a while.

"It's because you're so damn fuzzy." Usopp said walking up along side of him. "Why don't you take off that costume?"

That pissed Chopper off. The reindeer grew into his heavy point and towered over the long nosed teen. Zoro stopped walking but continued to tug on the sled rope. "Don't underestimate a reindeer." Chopper said.

"AAHHH MONSTER!" Usopp hollered dropping the stick he had been carrying. Youko giggled at this.

"Oi Chopper, don't grow big or I can't pull you." The man said pushing on the reindeer's shoulder making him go into the smaller point again.

"Vivi can I get some water?" Luffy asked wanting a drink badly.

"Only enough to fill your mouth." Nami said with a sigh.

Luffy grabbed the water tube and sucked the water till his cheeks were like a chipmunks when they stuff nuts in their faces. Nami and Usopp hit him in the back of his head.

"That's too much!" they said as the water sprayed from his mouth.

"Oi Luffy, you just had some, it's my turn." Sanji said pointing at his captain. This started a fight. Ace lifted his head up from the ground to glance at the fight. Youko was watching it with interest before she caught Ace's look.

* * *

"How come the desert is so cold at night?" Nami asked later at night when they had made camp. The two girls were huddled around the fire while I stayed near Pyro. He was a good enough fire as it is.

"There's nothing in the desert to absorb the heat so it can drop below freezing at night." Vivi said shaking a bit.

"Ah~ so many stars. You can't see them on a winter island because of the clouds." Chopper said looking at the dark sky that held the sparkling things.

"You seem fine with the cold." Usopp said. He and Zoro were leaning against the thing.

"Yup, I'm fine with the cold." Chopper said.

"That's because you're so damn fuzzy." Usopp repeated. Chopper grew big and the scene from earlier was repeated. Zoro shrunk Chopper down once more.

"You are pretty warm though." The green haired man said. Luffy came out of nowhere and glomped the animal.

"AAHHH~ so warm." The rubber man said hugging it. Usopp joined in even though the reindeer struggled. After a while the four of them fell asleep.

"Did Luffy-san surprise you?"

Me and Ace looked up at the blue haired girl. She was standing right next to Ace. Ace looked at her questionably.

"Usually the captain is revered, but today they fought over something as simple as water." Vivi said.

"Nah, that's just how Luffy is. Ever since we were kids he was always like that. It's that charm that draws people closer to him." Ace said smiling up at the girl. "But you were wondering if I was worried so thank you."

Vivi smiled and went over to Nami who had decided she was going to go to bed. I moved closer to Ace. It was getting colder and colder and Pyro was really warm. Sanji had been flirting with the other girls but had been denied what he wanted so he turned to me.

"Youko-chan if you want me to, I'll keep you warm tonight." The man said wiggly like and with heart in his eye. The tent me and Ace were going to use was behind us.

Before I got a chance to deny Sanji, Ace had grabbed the wrap that was around my neck and pulled me into the tent. He put his head out and looked at Sanji with a sly smile before going back in. Sanji seemed to give up but you could tell that he was unhappy about it.

I crossed my arms and looked at Pyro. Even though the tent blocked out most of the wind, I was still farther away from the fire than I used to be. Sure I had been using Ace as my source of heat, but I still got some of the fire's warmth.

Ace chuckled as I shivered and came over next to me. He laid down right next to me and I looked down at him. I sighed inwardly before lying down next to him. I wrapped my arms around his torso and nestled my head against his neck.

"Warm~" I muttered. I felt Ace chuckle but was too tired to care.

* * *

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper woke up half the group including Ace. They were playing with a scorpion. Ace came out of the tent he and Youko had shared the night before and looked in the direction that Vivi was facing.

"The wind's picked up." He said lifting his hand up to his forehead as the sand in front of them began to pick up. Vivi's eyes widened as she saw what was happening.

"Everybody get behind the rocks." The girl cried turning around.

"Eh, why?" Luffy questioned.

"A sandstorm is coming. There one of the most dangerous things in the desert." The girl said rushing behind them as Luffy and the others followed. The only ones who didn't go behind were Zoro and Sanji who were still asleep and Youko who was dragged out of the tent by Ace.

The sand rushed at them in a similar way it had done the day before but this time it was harsher. Even with the cover of the rocks, the group was still being pounded by the wind and sand. The tents were ripped out of the ground and the sand hit them even harder sending them back.

After the storm passed, the only thing that could be seen was the tips of the rocks and a few body parts here and there of the crew. The rest was buried. Ace was the first to wake up after the storm. He sat up from being completely buried with Youko across his lap. The girl was not happy about being woken up.

She stood up and began to dust off herself as Ace helped Vivi up. Everybody began to get up. Usopp got up right before Luffy who covered him with sand as soon as he sat up. They looked around.

"Damn, that was a messed up alarm clock." Zoro said stretching slightly as he became fully awake.

"Sandstorms hit randomly and when they do they are very strong." Vivi said in an apologetic way. Youko grabbed her bag and stared at the group. None blamed the girl for not telling them sooner.

* * *

"AAAHHHH~!"

"Once again Luffy, cut the 'ahs' out." Nami said becoming irritated once again with her captain. Ace glanced down at Youko. The girl had been able to handle the heat so far but it was obvious that it was getting to her.

"You okay?" Ace asked the girl. Youko ran a hand along the back of her neck. It was covered with the wrap but also her hair which had grown out again and was sticking to her neck.

"Other than the fact that I got woken up by a sandstorm, I'm fine." The girl said looking up at him with a smile. Ace smiled back but knew that Youko wasn't exactly in the best of moods.

"Ne Sanji, I'm hungry. Pirate bento." Luffy said with his tongue sticking out.

"Sorry Luffy but not until Vivi says it's okay." Sanji said looking back at the captain.

"Na, Vivi come on, pirate bento." Luffy asked walking up next to the blue haired girl.

"Luffy-san, we're only a tenth of the way there. We can't just stop to eat." Vivi said apologetically.

"Aren't you being stupid?" Luffy said with a frown. "Haven't you ever heard the philosophy when hungry eat?"

"There is no such philosophy, you just made that up." Usopp said walking past being as drained as his captain.

"Okay, I understand, we can take a break at the next rock cropping we find." Vivi said with a small sigh.

"Yosh, let's go whoever wins at Jankenpon has to carry all the stuff!" Luffy said dashing forward.

"Isn't it whoever loses usually?" Zoro asked but Luffy had already started.

"JAN KEN PON!"

"Oi wait a minute you saw our hands first." The crew said getting closer to Luffy.

"YAY I won!" Luffy shouted. Youko wanted to laugh at the teen's stupidity but was too tired to do so. Ace just smiled at how Luffy was the same as ever.

* * *

"I won, so why do I have to carry all the stuff?" Luffy asked dragging the baggage that belonged to everyone except Ace and Youko.

"It's because you lost that you have to carry everything." Sanji said happy to have the weight off his back.

"Make sure not to drop anything." Nami said showing no support for her captain.

Usopp was standing on a dune and using his goggles to try and find the rocks that would allow them a break. He adjusted them a bit a dark figure in the background. "Oi, I see a rock figure up ahead." He said pointing to it.

"YAY BREAK TIME!" Luffy instantly picked up the sled with the stuff on it and rushed forward towards the rocks.

"He's so damn fast!" Usopp said staring at the dust that was kicked up from Luffy's running.

Youko stared at the place where the man had disappeared. Seconds later he was back and yelling something about injured birds or what not. Chopper instantly shot up and followed his captain with the others behind him.

"Wait a minute, Luffy-san!" Vivi said as they rushed towards the rocks.

* * *

The stuff was gone. All their luggage, food and water, was gone. And so were the said birds that Luffy had said. "I swear there were a bunch of injured birds." Luffy said trying to explain it to a pissed off Sanji.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you earlier, those were heron." Vivi said looking at the sand. "They fake being injured and steal traveler's bags."

"There swindlers!" Usopp said.

"Yes, sagi." Vivi said sadly.

"Luffy, that was three days worth of food and water that just got stolen by a bunch of freaking birds." Sanji said grabbing the teen by the wrap that was around his straw hat.

"It's not my fault, I was tricked." Luffy said simply.

"That doesn't mean anything since you still lost all the stuff." Sanji said.

"Like I said, I was tricked." Luffy said getting angry. The tone that he used started a fight.

"Oi cut it out." Zoro said but Ace stopped him.

"Let them go, they're just a little over heated." He said. Zoro understood and sat on one of the rocks.

"You're right, we might as well take this chance to rest." He said pushing back the orange wrap that he had on his head.

The sound of a bird came and the group turned to see a small flock of white birds looking at them. The one in the front had their jug of water and was happily drinking it. The motion pissed off Luffy who stopped fighting with Sanji and began to run after them.

"Wait, Luffy-san, don't follow them." Vivi said trying to stop the teen but it was futile. Luffy had already left the rock outing and disappeared from sight.

"That idiot, how is he supposed to find his way back?" Nami said glaring at the direction Luffy had left in. They didn't follow however and decided to take and rest and hope for the return of their captain.

Ace sat against a rock with his legs straight out in front of him. He was thankful for the shade. Youko sat next to him and took her hat off. Ace watched as Youko lay down with her head on his lap. The girl put her hat back on and laid flat.

"I'm going to sleep so don't you dare wake me up." The girl said looking up at the man before covering her eyes again and going to sleep. Ace chuckled and ignored the glares from Sanji.

Time passed and Luffy never showed up. Youko never woke up either and the sun was beginning to shine right above them. After a while Zoro figured that it was time to search for the idiotic captain he followed.

He and Sanji stood up and said that they were going to search for Luffy. Before they left Ace spoke. "I'm sorry." He said. The group looked at him and Ace continued. "My brother has always been like this and he probably always will be."

The group smiled and Zoro and Sanji turned towards the exit that Luffy had left towards. They didn't get far though. As soon as they were about to leave the earth began to rumble. Ace lifted his head slightly to see what was going on. Zoro flinched as he noticed sand beginning to spray up and the familiar yell of a person reached his ears.

"What damn star was I born under that keeps bringing me all this trouble?" Zoro said with a heavy sigh.

"He's a genius at bringing it ain't he?" Sanji said. "But where's the camel from?"

"Let's forget about that for now. Luffy brought us some meat." Zoro said as a large purple lizard emerged from underneath the sand.

"SANDORA LIZARD!" Vivi said as the thing as the thing began to catch up to Luffy who was barely hanging onto the panicking animal.

"That thing's huge!" Usopp said staring at the thing in fright.

"Luffy, get ready to beat that thing." Sanji said as he and Zoro rushed towards the thing. Luffy jumped off the camel and turned towards the lizard.

Ace watched as the three of them easily beat it with one attack from each. Nami, Usopp and Vivi stared at the thing in shock. Chopper was still resting and didn't feel like looking up while Youko stayed asleep.

"I feel sorry for that thing." Nami said looking at the now dead animal.

"When it's versus them together, those three are the monsters." Usopp said as well.

They shot around at the sound of the sand rising behind them. Ace turned around as another lizard appeared behind him. Youko sat up and stared at the thing.

"Just a giant lizard…" she said before collapsing back onto Ace's lap. Ace sighed at the girl's indifference at the matter. The lizard growled at Ace.

"Ace watch out!" Nami called. Ace looked up at the thing and carefully stood up placing Youko gently on the ground.

"You want to eat me?" Ace asked the thing. "Bring it."

Ace jumped up and went into the lizard's opened mouth. Nami and Vivi stared in shock as flames begun to erupt from the animal's nose and mouth. Soon the whole animal was on fire and Ace jumped out of it.

"That should do it." He said going back to his seat and a still sleeping Youko. Well she was until the lizard collapsed. Ace had been picking her head up to put it back on his lap when she had woken up.

"Is that lunch?" she questioned the man ignoring the fact that she had been woken up once again.

"Sure." Ace said as the girl sat up and dusted herself off.

* * *

Sanji took a hunk of the meat and put it on one of the rocks that was in the sunlight. The meat began to steam as Chopper watched in curiosity. "It's like nature's frying pan." The blonde cook said as the meat cooked.

"But seriously, what's up with this camel?" he said turning towards the thing.

"It's not wild, it has a saddle." Youko said getting closer to the thing.

"A desert doesn't feel right without a camel." Zoro said. "It looks like we can ride it. Two people can fit."

"Yosh, I'm first." Luffy said beginning to climb onto the thing. The camel bit his head before Luffy could get on though. "Ow, ow that hurts." Luffy got down and Chopper shot to the camel's side as it began to talk.

"I thank you for saving me and I will allow people to ride me. But I only allow females. Is what he says." Chopper said translating for the camel.

"Only females huh. Sounds like a perverted camel but I've always wanted to ride a one." Youko said trying to get on it. Once again the camel prevented the teen from getting on.

"Girls only."

Youko, Luffy, Usopp and Sanji began to kick the camel very happily yelling at the thing. Nami interrupted when the four of them stopped beating up the animal.

"I'm sorry, did my bandits beat you up?" the girl said rubbing a hand under his head. A heart popped into the animal's eye and he knelt down for her to get on. "Now what should we name you?"

Luffy: Idiot

Usopp: Ero-camel

Sanji: Dumbass

Youko: Dinner

"How about Eyelashes." Nami said walking the camel over to Vivi.

"That's even weirder." Zoro commented. Nami sat Eyelashes down and motioned for Vivi to get on. The girl said that she was fine with walking but Nami was able to probe her onto the animal.

Youko walked back to her stuff and picked it up as Vivi and Nami began to walk. Because of the speed of the camel they were out of sight in no time.

"OI WAIT FOR US!" the crew called as they began to rush after the girls.

"You have to keep up." Nami hollered back to the boys.

"Ah I love this Nami-swan too." Sanji said with a heart in his eye.

"SHUT UP AND RUN!"

* * *

ME: another chapter done for this one and others will come later. I have been kinda lazy with them lately.  
Zoro: i'll say, you haven't updated them in a few days.  
Sanji: don't yell at Saix-chan like that marimo!  
Zoro: You wanna fight ero-cook?  
Me: I'm going to ignore them and continue to talk to you guys. I couldn't remember the lizard's actual name so I picked that one since it sounded right. Also for people who might be confused the kanji for 'sagi' means both heron and swindler. I hope you liked this chapter.


	19. Rebels and a Purple Lizard

Like A Boy

Chapter 17 Rebels and a Purple Lizard

"AAAHHHH! TSUNAMI! WE'RE GONNA DROWN!"

"I told him he shouldn't have done it." Usopp said watching his captain act like a lunatic.

"Told him not to do what?" Sanji asked. They had been separated from Nami and Vivi for a while and the foot prints they were trying to follow had disappeared.

"He said that his thirst was too great so he went and ate some cacti." Usopp said as Luffy grabbed Chopper's sled and smashed it on the ground saying that he was going to beat the tsunami up.

"What did they look like?" Chopper asked. Usopp pointed to some sphere shaped cacti. "Those are Mescal Cactus! They cause hallucinations!"

"I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ALL'S ASSES!" Luffy shouted at the crew and rushed towards them.

"Tranquilizer." Chopper said holding up the needle as Luffy collapsed in a deep sleep.

"Nice work Chopper." Sanji said giving the reindeer a thumbs up.

They walked for a while. Because Chopper's sled had been destroyed by Luffy he was forced to walk through the heat. The reindeer stayed in his walking point hoping it would make it easier on him. Zoro was dragging Luffy by his leg as the teen stayed in his deep sleep.

"Now that I think about, we haven't seen Ace and Youko-chan in a while." Sanji said out loud.

"He probably got lost."

The group turned to the now awake Luffy with massive killing intent. "What a troublesome older brother."

"YOU'RE THE TROUBLESOME ONE!" the group said stomping on the rubber captain with intent on killing him.

* * *

"So, have you found them yet?" Ace asked taking a small break. The sun was really getting to him. When they didn't answer, Ace looked up and saw them gone. "Wha- WHAT!"

Youko didn't notice Ace's stop and ran into the man. The girl kept her face in his back accepting the shade. "We lost them didn't we?" the girl asked slightly irritated. Ace only nodded but the girl could feel it.

"Great…" the girl stood up and put her hat back on right. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?"

Before the girl got her answer, the sand in front of them rose. Ace and Youko stared more in surprise at the sudden appearance of a giant scorpion. The thing lifted its tail and pointed it at them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Ace said while Youko sighed.

* * *

"I'm worried about them Nami-san." Vivi said looking behind them once again. Nami looked at her with a smile.

"Don't worry about them. They'll find us eventually." The girl said completely erasing the boys from her concern.

* * *

"I warned you." Ace said as he and Youko walked down the slope that was next to them. The sound of something scorching could be heard all around them.

"That was kinda pointless and a waist of energy." Youko said rubbing her eyes slightly. Once again, an animal prevented an answer from reaching the girl's ears.

The two pirates stared at the large purple lizard in front of him. The two of them took a step to the right and the lizard followed. They took a step to the left and once again the lizard did the same thing.

* * *

"Hey, isn't that a ship?" Usopp asked. He was up on a dune trying to find Nami and Vivi.

"That's impossible." Zoro said but he was corrected.

Sailing across the sand, using the wind to move, was a large ship. What looked like an umbrella was mounted to the front of it. Usopp leaned in closer to look at the ship better. It was a pirate crew based off of the flag. And they had Nami and Vivi.

* * *

Youko was lying on the sand laughing. After the lizard had followed their footsteps for a while she had finally had it and couldn't suppress her laughter. Ace however was becoming irritated with the large thing.

"Do you wanna wind up like your little buddy?" the man asked and the lizard looked up at the still smoking scorpion. Tears gushed from its eyes and Youko sat up and looked at the thing.

"Think we can ride it?" she asked as she walked up closer to the seven foot tall thing.

"I wanna eat it." Ace said remembering that he hadn't eaten in a while.

"No, lizard give us a ride." Youko said. The lizard nodded and Youko climbed onto its head while Ace sat more on its shoulders. Youko's back was pressed against Ace but she didn't care anymore. "ONWARD TO CIVILIZATION!"

"How do you know it will bring us to a town?" Ace asked. Youko looked at him.

"I don't, I just always wanted to say that in the middle of nowhere and on top of a giant lizard." Youko said simply.

"Really?" Ace asked. The girl had a lot of things she wanted to ride.

"Like hell you idiot! The biggest lizard where I come from is a komodo dragon and they are four feet long!" the girl said hitting him in the head. "Chicken Fries go find a town."

"Who's Chicken Fries?" Ace asked as the lizard started to walk in its own little way in a certain direction.

"The lizard why?" Youko asked with a smile.

"You and Luffy are alike in a certain way." Ace said with a small smile. "You name pets after food."

The lizard was able to bring them to a town. It wasn't Yuba but it was small and out of the way. The two of them kept the lizard out in a hallway while they dined on food that they had found. They also heard the conversation of the original owners of the food.

"For four big guys, you really are doing something small." Ace said catching their attention. The room they were in was cool enough that he was able to take off his jacket.

"Who the hell are you?" the tallest of the group asked.

"Food thief." The shortest said.

Ace narrowed his eyes as three of them rushed him. Youko continued to eat as Ace easily kicked the men's asses. When it was done, Ace went back to eating asking for seconds on rice from the last one standing who was most likely the leader.

The man got Ace more food and looked at his fallen comrades. He looked at Youko who was laughing slightly at what the other had said to her. He placed the food on the table before bowing down to Ace.

"I know very well that you aren't an average guy and that your strength is enormous please, I'm begging you help us." The man said. Youko looked at him as well as Ace.

* * *

Nami sighed. The incident with the Sand Pirates had gone over smoother than planned and they were told where a small town was where they could replenish supplies. They were in sight of the town when they spotted Ace and Youko.

The two of them were riding a large lizard while towing a sled fool of food and water. Ace stopped the lizard and the two of them jumped off of the thing and looked at the crew.

"Yo." Ace said casually greeting them once again. They looked at the stuff he brought and smiled.

"Ace-san, Youko-san, I don't want to be rude and I know you got the food for us but we don't have enough money for all that food. You didn't steal it from that village did you?" Vivi asked as Usopp and Luffy drank from one of the water barrels.

"Of course not." Youko said with a smile. "We were given the stuff."

The group looked at the girl surprised.

"By the rebellion." Ace said making Vivi's eyes widened. "Well they were defiantly imposters but it seems that since they came the village has been at peace."

Vivi looked at the ground. People were using the name of the rebellion for their own good. These men were doing something for their own advantage.

"Do you want to stop them?" Youko asked the girl calmly.

"No, I wanna test them. Everyone, will you help me with this?" the girl looked at the group and they smiled. Ace and Youko walked over back towards the village and snuck in.

The two of them made it to a wall and listened carefully. They had been gone so long that the four men thought that they were dead. Youko tried to hold in a chuckle as they continued to walk not realizing that the town's people were following them to the main gate of the town. They had been informed that it was Luffy instead of the Sand Pirates at the door.

Ace and Youko went to the rock cliff where the gate was attached and looked at the four men who were making a plan. They also were able to see what Luffy and the crew was doing. Ace gave them a thumbs up saying that the formation they had would prevent the rebels from escaping.

The men pushed open the doors and began to rush forward but stopped instantly as they saw that they were surrounded on all sides. The one in the middle began to panic and looked at Luffy who was glaring at him.

"For a complete idiot, your brother can be serious." Youko whispered so that she wasn't heard. Ace chuckled softly and sat to watch the show.

"Oi, you guys the rebels who are guarding this town?" Luffy asked staring at the man in the middle.

"We-we…"

"BEWARE PIRATES, THESE REBELS WILL BEAT YOU UP GOOD!" the voice belonged to the mayor of the town. The head of the small 'rebel' group looked up at the man with white eyes and tears. He wasn't helping.

"Heh, so you're gonna beat me?" Luffy asked taunting the man. The blonde haired rebel turned towards Luffy scared but maybe a little more determined. He had seen the kids who were always running around the village looking at him.

"Oi, what are you guys doing?" Youko smiled at Ace who was beginning to talk to the rebels in a way that only they could hear him.

"Ace-sama, where are you? We need your help." The leader said as he and the others began to panic a bit as Luffy stepped closer.

"You guys are men so stand up and fight." Youko said talking in the same way.

"But…"

"Here it comes…" Youko's voice trailed off as Luffy's fist contacted with the man's face. The leader of the small rebel group flew through the open gate and stopped a ways away.

The people of the village looked at the man who wasn't moving. The other three stared at their brother but instantly went back to the still oncoming pirate.

"What's wrong?" Ace asked as the man finally began to come back to reality.

"Aren't you going to stop them?" Youko asked. Slight enjoyment could be heard in her voice.

"I-I can't do it. I'm not strong…" the man said.

"That's no excuse to let the people you care about get killed." Ace said simply.

"Kamyu onii-chan please wake up." A little girl said looking at the man who was staring at the sky. The rebel lifted his head slightly.

"They're coming." Another kid said.

"ANIKI HELP!"

Luffy began to reach for the last three remaining rebels. He was about to grab one when the man he had sent flying earlier grabbed his wrist. Luffy looked at him with his same expression from earlier.

"I won't let you lay a hand on this village or anyone in it." The man said before whipping Luffy's hand back. "The kids in this village look up to me and my brothers and I won't let them down. We may just be fake rebels but that doesn't mean we don't want what's best for this village."

Ace and Youko smiled and continued to watch the show. A smile crossed on Luffy's face as the largest in the group stood in front of Zoro and Sanji. "If aniki is going to protect this village then so will I." he said with tears coming out of his eyes.

"Yosh, I like you guys." Luffy said laughing. The leader looked at him confused. The pirate all of a suddenly seemed to become a lot more light hearted.

Usopp stared at the rebels in front of him as a light began to flash in his eye. He looked over at the rock that Nami and Vivi were hiding behind and signaled for Sanji and Zoro.

Sanji grabbed the back of Luffy's jacket and began to run. "I've never seen such terrifying rebels." He said as he ran. Zoro followed him with a small blush on his face.

"I can't bring myself to say it." He muttered as Usopp followed him saying something similar to Sanji.

"Wait for me!" Chopper said trying his hardest to keep up with the group.

Youko and Ace also moved out of their hiding spot and began to run after the small group who had caught up with Nami and Vivi. Ace and Youko ran alongside of them and looked at Luffy.

"So, how long are we going to be running for?" Ace asked as they kept up their speed and began heading towards the sinking sun.

"All the way to Yuba!" Luffy said happily.

"Okay then!" Ace said as they continued their dash.

* * *

Another chapter and I will try to keep up my normal rate even when school starts but I haven't lately but here it is! I probably got the Sand Pirate's name wrong but I don't care. Also I know I skipped a lot with them but I got really impatient and felt like it because Youko and Ace weren't really with them a lot. I tried my best however and I hope everyone likes this chapter. I also have a question. I have been thinking about publishing a One-Shot series where every chapter is a One-Shot type deal with Ace and Youko and I have a few ideas I just haven't started them yet. I was wondering what animal you guys thought that Youko might be. Any kind is fine and I will choose the one is either most popular or what I like the best so please tell me. Well, until the next chapter.


	20. Scorpion: A Man of Pride

Like A Boy

Chapter 18 Scorpion: A Man of Pride

Two days passed since the incident with the rebels. Nothing big happened. They were all sitting to eat breakfast on a cropping of rocks that were found. Usopp and Luffy were complaining about wanting more while Sanji was yelling at them for it.

Luffy reached over and snagged a piece of Zoro's food. Zoro obviously complained and once again a fight broke out. Nami sighed and continued to eat her food with Vivi. Vivi was questioning about stopping what was going on but Nami told her to ignore it.

"Unlike his brother, Ace-san is very mature. He's even cleaning his plate and fork. Youko-san seems to have done that too even if she did go back to sleep." Vivi said looking up at the rock where Ace and Youko were.

Ace had taken off his jacket because they were in a semi-shaded area. Youko had taken hers off as well and was leaning against the man. The blue haired girl's arms were behind her head as she rested angled against his back. Ace didn't mind and just continued to clean his fork.

"Yeah, you'd think that people with bounties like theirs, would be a little less polite or carefree." Nami said commenting on the two pirates.

"Ace-san and Youko-san have bounties?" Vivi questioned. She had never heard of them. Nami nodded.

"Youko's a rookie like Luffy but she's become pretty infamous over the last half year or so. You heard what Ace said, she's next in line for the commander position. I also heard that Ace has a bounty that will make any bounty hunter drool." The girl said before standing up. Nami dumped sand on the fire and looked at the group.

"Okay," she began. "Time to get going…" the girl glanced at Zoro and Luffy who were still fighting and a tick mark grew on her forehead. "WOULD YOU QUIT IT!"

Youko looked down from the cliff she and Ace had occupied and smiled at the scene before her. Ace glanced down at the group before turning his attention to what had caught Luffy's. A piece meat that seemed to be floating but was actually on a fishing wire.

Luffy ran after it and Ace stood up. From where he stood he saw what had caused the meat to disappear. Luffy had run off somewhere like usual but he didn't pay much heed. Youko followed Ace as the man walked towards where the meat had disappeared.

The two of them went to a rock the was above two boys. The oldest had to be around ten and the younger maybe seven or six. They were happily eating the small piece of meat saying that they never got any in the Badlands.

"So you guys are from the Badlands huh?" Ace asked. The two boys instantly looked up at Ace and Youko.

Ace was sitting in a way where his legs were out in front of him but he was only on his feet. Youko was leaning down next to him with her hand on his shoulder for support. The boys looked at the two of them scared.

"What the hell do you want? We aren't giving back the food." The older of the two said pulling out a revolver.

"It's dangerous for kids to be playing with weapons like that. You should go back to your mom and take a nap." Ace said looking at the boys with a frown. Youko had to admit that it seemed that Ace was being harsh but he was right.

"Onii-chan, do you really know how to use that?" the younger one asked scared. "Is a bullet really going to come out?"

"Of course, I know what I'm doing." The older said. Youko sighed and climbed off the rock and stood in front of the boys.

"Okay, quit trying to be tough and hand me the gun." The girl said putting her hand out. The older took this a threat and pulled the trigger.

The shot would have missed if the younger hadn't tackled the older boy. The bullet aimed right for Youko. The girl saw it but couldn't dodge. Ace instantly shot a pebble at the bullet, knocking it to the ground and preventing it from hitting Youko. The sound of the bullet attracted the attention of the rest of their little group.

"Oi, what is going on?" Sanji asked seeing the gun and two boys.

"You really need to learn how to dodge a bullet, you know that right Youko?" Ace said looking at the girl who was thanking him for the save.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not some monster that can do that sort of thing." Youko said giving him a look.

Ace shrugged before turning back to the kids who were gawking at what he had done.

"Y-you deflected the bullet with a rock…" the older stared at Ace before quickly pulling a picture out of his pocket and handing it to Ace.

"Will you hunt down this man?" he asked Ace almost desperate. Youko jumped back up on the rock and looked over Ace's shoulder. "I will pay you a million beris."

"One million beris?" Nami questioned not believing that the boy had it.

"I can't pay now, but I'll work and I promise to pay you. We need you to catch that man. His name is Scorpion." The boy said becoming determined.

"What are you guys going to do Ace?" Usopp asked as the two looked at the picture.

"We have business with this man anyway." Ace said before glancing at the boys.

"Ace, you mean the Fire Fist Ace?" the older of the two boys asked.

"What do you mean business?" Nami asked.

"This is the guy who supposedly had beaten Blackbeard." Youko said looking at the man.

"Eh, is that true?" Sanji asked looking at the man. "Can this man really beat someone like Blackbeard? You said that he tried to kill one of the top commanders didn't you?"

"I don't know. I won't know till I see him." Ace said simply before handing the picture back to the kids. Something caught his attention and he stood up.

"What is it?" Youko asked him still kneeling down.

"Two men and a bird." Ace said simply. Chopper's nose twitched and he proved Ace right.

The dune in front of them began to bob and a man riding an ostrich came into view. The man looked down and the group and Youko caught sight of the two boys hiding. Ace looked up at the man.

"Yo, Fire Fist Ace. Today I will beat you and take your head." The man said.

"Hey guys!" Luffy said randomly popping up from behind the man.

"How did he get there?" Zoro asked sweat dropping slightly.

"Are you the man called Scorpion?" Ace asked. "The man who supposedly beat Blackbeard?"

The man seemed to be frozen at the fact that he was about to challenge the Fire Fist Ace. He glanced down at the rest of the group. He had never seen any of them before except the girl with short blue hair. He had seen her on a wanted poster before.

"Oi Ace, a fight, a real fight!" Luffy said happily to his brother. "You're not backing out, are you?

"LIKE HELL!" Ace said slightly insulted. "Better get out of the way Lu."

The man began to charge down the dune and Ace dashed forward. Luffy jumped off the ostrich and Youko muttered for Ace not to go too hard on the man. As soon as Ace got onto sand, Scorpion shot an iron net at the man.

Youko sat and watched as Pyro easily deflected it sending the net back at the man. Scorpion fell off of the bird and complained at the heat of the net. When he finally got it off he turned to Ace with a smirk.

"Not giving up eh?" Ace said in a taunting manner.

"Bobo, my Acid Rifle!" the man said. The bird dropped something in front of the man and Ace raised an eyebrow as the man got it ready.

"Acid?" Sanji questioned.

His question was answered as soon as the man pulled the trigger. A clear white stream shot out of the yellow gun shot at Ace. The man easily dodged it. The group turned to a rock that easily got a whole through it. The crew's eyes widened at the shots.

Ace started running towards the man. The man shot more stuff at the man. Ace easily dodged them and got his fist ready. Once close enough, Ace rammed the fist into Scorpion's stomach sending him down a dune.

"Well, he went easy." Youko said standing up. The man was on his stomach and slightly looking up at Ace.

"The part about you beating Blackbeard was a lie wasn't it?" Ace said looking at the man simply. "You knew that is you spread news about him that I would come."

"Heh, yeah, I wanted to show them. I know I have no chance of beating you but I had to show them…" the man said struggling to his feet.

"Them?" Ace questioned. The man stood up and began to move towards the man.

"THAT'S ENOUGH DAD!"

The group watched as the two boys ran down the dune and tackled the man in a hug. Ace and Youko looked at the three of them questionably as the rest stared shocked.

"Dip, Chip, what are you doing here! I thought I left you in the Badlands?" Scorpion said wrapping his arms around the two boys as if to protect them.

"We came to get you." Dip said looking at his father with tears in his eyes. "Dad this is the Fire Fist Ace we're talking about. You can't beat him."

The bounty hunter began to try and correct his son by talking about the pirates he had taken. "Those are what you plan on doing." The younger said making his father laugh.

"You're right, but this time I plan on beating him and proving to you that your old man still has it." The man stood up and looked at Ace with a smile.

"Shall we continue?" he asked and Ace smirked at this. "Bobo bring me my Bazooka!"

The two brothers flinched at what their father had called for. They stared at their father as he put the weapon on and aimed it at Ace. The two boys ran up to their father and grabbed his waist.

"NO, dad, don't!"

"I won't complain about not having food anymore!"

"Let's just go back together!"

Finally their pleased got to the man and he dropped the bazooka to grab his sons in a hug. The lit fused stayed lit as the bazooka fell down the dune and hit the rock formation that was behind them. The vibration forced it to fire.

The group stared in shock at the sudden ignition and instinctively ducked as the thing blew up. Scorpion covered his sons as rocks began to fall towards them. Luffy dashed forward, ready to ram the rocks out of the way but Ace interrupted him.

"HIKEN!" he said forcing his flames at the falling rocks. He hit so hard that not only got the rocks out of the ay but also destroyed the rock behind them.

"Oi, you guys okay!" Luffy called after everything was over. The three of them looked up at the two brothers who were standing next to each other.

"Idiots." The old man said. "Do you honestly think that something like this can kill me?" Luffy smiled.

"So, you really leaving Ace?" Luffy asked as he and Youko looked at them. The sun was going down and the two decided to leave.

"Ah, there's no reason for us to be in Arabasta anymore since Blackbeard clearly isn't here." Ace said before pulling a thick piece of paper out of his pocket. "Here." He tossed it to Luffy who caught it.

"What is it?" Luffy asked looking at it.

"That will let us meet each other again." Ace said as Luffy opened it up. "Don't want it?"

"No, I'll keep it." Luffy said making Ace laugh. Youko smiled but questioned why Ace didn't tell Luffy what it was.

"When you have a little brother that's a bit on the slow side, it makes his older brother worry." Ace said with a smile. Youko chuckled at bit. "The next time we meet will be at the Pirate's Summit."

Luffy smiled at the thought. "Come to the top Luffy." Ace said. He glanced up at Scorpion. The man and his family were waving goodbye to the gang of pirates. The group turned to them before turning around and noticing that Ace and Youko were gone.

* * *

Youko looked up at Ace. It was rather embarrassing but Ace carrying her bridal style was the only way for them to get out to the Striker faster. Ace was flying towards the coast, not one hundred percent solid. He looked at the girl and smiled before gently kissing her forehead.

Youko wrapped her arms around Ace's neck and he lifted her up slightly. Youko smiled even though a blush was on her face. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Ace smiled and looked at her face before leaning down and kissed her lips which made her squeal a little. Ace looked at her afterwards and went back to concentrating on his run again.

* * *

And that completes the Arabasta section. Original chapters created by me shall be posted after this. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the fight against Scorpion.


	21. Don't Touch

Like A Boy

Chapter 19 Don't Touch

Youko sat on the main part of the Striker. Ace had the sails down so that the wind could carry them along. The girl was going through one of the books she had brought with her. Ace was clearly bored. Even though they were on their way to the next island, they still had the journey to get there.

"AHH~ Youko why are you always reading those books, I'm hungry!" Ace complained. It was getting annoying.

"Mo, Ace would you shut up?" the girl asked. "I'm reading because I'm bored and I am not going down there and getting you a damn fish."

"If I 'fall' in?" Ace challenged.

"I'm not saving your ass." Youko stated clearly. Ace booed but something caught his attention.

Ace quickly picked Youko up and put her in the back of the Striker. He raised the sails and instantly shot the Striker in a certain direction. Youko gripped the mast quickly as Ace sped towards what looked like a pirate ship.

"Oh my Kami-sama Ace, what the hell are you doing!" Youko called over the wind.

"They're having a party." Ace said with a smile.

"How the hell can you tell?" Youko asked. The pirate ship looked like a circus.

"I smell food." Ace said with a grin.

"Of course." Youko mumbled with a sigh.

"Captain, Mugiwara no Luffy has become even more famous." A man with white, animal like hair said to a red nosed man. The man looked at him with a grin.

"Exactly." The man said making his other commander confused. "Have you guys ever heard of witches?"

The two commanders looked at each other and then at the man. "They fatten us children before eating them. The higher Mugiwara's bounty gets, the more famous we'll be when we take him down!" Buggy said making his crew cheer. This started the party.

"But how are you going to find them?" a woman with long black hair asked.

"If you guys are looking for Luffy, I can tell you where he is."

"See this guy can tell us where he is…" buggy said before turning to Ace and Youko who were helping themselves to their food. "WHO THE FLASHY HELL ARE YOU!"

Ace stood up and bowed. "Sorry, I was attracted by the smell of food and came here." He said politely.

"I just followed." Youko said taking a bite of food.

"Sorry for interrupting your party." Ace said once again. Buggy bowed as well to be polite.

"Nah, no it's okay… WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" buggy yelled once again putting his face into Ace's

"C-captain Buggy, that's…" Cabaji stated. Buggy looked at him. "That's Hiken no Ace, of the Whitebeard pirate crew."

"You know the old man that's ZZZZ" Ace began.

"HE FELL ASLEEP!" the crew looked at the man shocked while Youko just laughed.

"And that's the Ocean Princess, Youko!" Mohji said indicating Youko who was ignoring them and watching Ace sleep.

"Captain, this is our chance. If we take them down, we'll become famous practically overnight. We can't let this chance slip up." Cabaji said trying to convince his captain to allow them to capture the two pirates who weren't paying attention to them.

"NO." Buggy said sternly looking at his men. "Whitebeard is not the kind of man who will let the death of his nakama go unheard. If we take these two down, we will have the World's Strongest Man after us." Buggy looked at his crew sweating slightly.

"You seem to know a lot about this man." Alvida said looking at the man she had teamed up with. Buggy nodded.

"I've met him, Edward Newgate aka Whitebeard. He is a monster among monsters." Buggy said once again.

"So you do know the old man." Ace said continuing to eat.

"WHEN DID YOU WAKE UP!"

Ace stood up and started to move from foot to foot. "Oi isn't this a party, why aren't you having fun!" he asked and Youko began to laugh.

"Ah, you're right. ALRIGHT MEN, LET'S HAVE A FLASHY PARTY!" Buggy hollered at his crew and they cheered.

"Oi, you guys have a lion?" Ace asked. He then created a ring of fire. "Jump through the ring!"

"Show him what you can do Ritchie." Mohji ordered the lion. It jumped through the fire but Ace hadn't made it big enough and the lion got burned.

"Ouch."

* * *

Okay the reason this is so short was because I forgot about this little part and decided to add it in for the hell of it. After this the chapters will be around their normal length. I plan on making htem go to different islands and having all sorts of things happen depending on the island that they go to. Kinda like how Luffy and the crew do but with just the two of them. Again, I apologize for this being so short and all. I hope you liked this and the next chapter will be out asap.


	22. Next Island

Like A Boy

Chapter 20 Next Island

Youko yawned as she walked around the town. After they left Buggy's ship, she and Ace had travelled till they came to a small island. It had a descent sized town in it and the two of them had no choice but to stay there for a few days. Since sleeping in the Striker was impossible, the two of them had rented a hotel room.

It had been embarrassing when Ace asked for only one room with one bed. The man had looked at her and then at Ace who was smiling like it was nothing. Youko shrugged and the man had given it to them. She was used to sleeping with Pyro but the fact of other people, especially complete strangers knowing she did still bugged her.

She ran a hand through her bangs as she walked in the direction of the hotel. Youko had gone out to get some food and left a note for Ace since he had still been asleep when she woke up. Once again, Youko's hair had grown enough for her to put it in pigtails.

Ace seemed to like her hair like that. Youko sighed at it. She really wanted to have her hair short again but she never got around to actually being able to cut it since whenever the idea came to her Ace would hide anything that could be used to cut hair with. Youko walked into the hotel lobby and waved at the manager who smiled at her.

The man knew very well that Youko and Ace were pirates. The marks they showed without a care was evidence enough of it. They both had bounties as well. He allowed them to stay because they paid for the room and didn't cause any trouble.

Youko walked along halls until she made it to the room that she and Ace shared. She unlocked the door and walked in, putting the food she had bought on the small table that was in the room. Youko looked around but the room was empty. Ace was here when she had left. The 'do not disturb' sign was still on the door and the bed was unmade.

The curtains were closed and the lights had been put when she first walked in. Youko walked towards the bed and looked around. Was Pyro hiding or had he gone out. She looked at the bathroom door. It was closed and the sound of water was running from it.

Youko sighed and walked over to the bed to take her shoes off. She hated wearing them but some stores don't allow you in unless you're wearing them. The door to the bathroom clicked open and Ace came out and looked at Youko.

"Ace, put pants on…" Youko said looking away. Ace chuckled.

"Wanna take one with me?" he offered. Youko looked at his face noticing that his hair wasn't wet.

"You waited for me to come back didn't you?" she asked trying hard not to move her eyes downwards.

"Yup, so wanna?" Ace asked with a proud smile.

"No," Youko said bluntly. "If you're going to take a shower, do it."

Ace frowned but left the bathroom and quickly grabbed the girl. Youko yelped as Ace hugged her and tried to fumble with her bikini top strap. Youko struggled however and was able to get out of his grip. Her top however fell off at the movement and Ace's eyes moved downward.

Youko turned beat read with anger and embarrassment and punched Ace, sending him into the bathroom. She slammed the sliding door shut and held it there. She was breathing hard and could hear Ace move around.

"Stay in there." Youko said moving the dresser in front of the door and going over to her bag and pulling out another top. Damn Pyro, what the hell was that? The blush stayed on her face and she tried to get Pyro's body put of her mind. "AGH that's a mental image I won't be able to get rid of."

"That's because you like it."

Youko flinched back and brought her leg up to kick Ace. The man caught it easily with a chuckle and Youko looked at him fuming. He was at least wearing pants now.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Youko asked walking towards the bed. She laid down on it and put her hands behind her head.

"What's wrong with it?" Ace asked leaning over the girl. Youko looked away. "You still have the image in your head" he taunted.

Youko looked up at him angrily. "Shut up, I do not." she growled. Ace chuckled before moving on top of the girl.

"You do." Ace challenged.

"No I don't." Youko said firmly.

"Don't have what?" Ace asked with a sly smile.

Youko was about to answer when the image came to her mind again. She turned onto her stomach and hid her face in the pillow.

"DAMN YOU PYRO!" she yelled into it. Ace laughed and moved off of the girl. "It's not funny!" Youko looked at him.

"Pervert." Ace said as a name indication.

"You're the one who walked out naked!" Youko said hitting him in the head with a pillow.

Ace looked at Youko shocked at the fact that she had done that. Youko looked at him with an angry pout and grabbed a pillow herself. "You know that means war, right?" he asked throwing the pillow at her face. Youko fell backwards and off the bed.

Youko was partially on her back with her feet sticking in the air. She looked up at Ace who was smiling at her. The man grabbed her legs, right behind her knees and pushed forward causing the girl to tumble. Youko sat up and noticed that she had both pillows.

The girl grinned and Ace got a scared look on his face. The girl nailed him in the face with one before jumping onto the bed and hitting Ace with the one she still had in her hand. Ace fought back and began to hit Youko with the pillow she had thrown at him.

Youko woke up the next morning on top of Ace. The sheets were barely covering them and Ace was resting on a pillow. Feathers covered the bed, floor and the two pirates. Youko sat up and sat on the man who seemed to be unaware of her weight on him. She looked around the room sleepily before going back to sleep on top of Pyro.

* * *

Marco and Thatch were looking through the newspaper the News Coo had brought them. They hadn't heard anything about Ace and Youko in a while which meant that the two of them were behaving a bit. The only news that they had gotten was that the two of them were travelling with each other in the first part of the Grandline.

When Ace had called them saying that he had heard information about Teach, he seemed to be more of going after the man with or without Oyaji's permission. Youko had taken the den den mushi at the time and explained more clearly.

Thatch had said it was okay because Teach hadn't killed him but Ace was determined to beat the shit out of the guy. Since Thatch wasn't killed, Ace wasn't allowed to kill Teach unless it was accidental or there was a reason behind it.

Oyaji had agreed with Youko and allowed them to search for the man but to pull back if it got too dangerous. Youko agreed though Ace was too busy yelling out to the world that he would beat Blackbeard's ass to hear them. Youko had probably told him later.

Lee seemed to be bored with Youko gone. She would often be seen sitting at the table with her head down just looking at the ocean. It seemed that the information of Ace and Youko not being on the ship seemed to attract the attention of other pirates and bounty hunters.

The information of the ship being without its second division commander made them a little bit braver. They had gotten a few more attacks then usual even if they were still weak and easily beat. Right after Youko and Ace had called them to ask permission for going after Teach, Oyaji seemed to have been a bit concerned about something.

Marco had been able to guess what it was. Teach was a normal human that was for sure. The man had never stood out, never actually participated in any big fights and never really cared about getting a bounty. Yet with a simple dagger he was able to injure Thatch to the point of him losing consciousness, just to get a simple devil fruit.

Oyaji was worried that the two of them were over their heads. He was worried that the two of them would get hurt. Marco sighed as he looked at an article that had called Thatch's attention was on. Teach was making a name for himself. He hadn't been able to get his goal but he still was becoming infamous.

The man was becoming powerful, even without the use of the fruit that Thatch still had hidden somewhere. Knowledge of whether he had eaten it or not was impossible to tell since unlike Ace, he never fell off the ship for random things.

* * *

Ace woke up around noon the next morning. Youko was still asleep on top of him and he smiled at her before carefully sitting up. Youko's head went on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her to keep the girl up. Ace looked around and noticed all of the white feathers that were everywhere.

The only pillow that had survived was the one that Youko had been using since she hadn't accidentally thrown it against the fan that was spinning still on the ceiling. After that the pillow fight had stopped and the blue haired girl had laughed like crazy. When they fell asleep exactly didn't come to his mind.

Youko stirred and looked up at Ace with her half awake look. Ace grinned at the girl who sat up. Feathers decorated her hair. Ace removed one and smiled at her placing it on her nose.

Youko blew on it making it dance a bit and Ace laughed as the girl blew it even higher up until it landed in Ace's hair which was also covered in the white stuff.

"This is going to take forever to get out." the girl said with a small laugh as she pulled a few out of his black hair.

"Might as well let the maids take care of the rest. The log post set already didn't it?" he asked and Youko looked at the thing that was resting on the dresser next to them and nodded. It was pointing in a different direction.

"Still have to get this stuff out of our hair." Youko said pulling some out of her own hair. Ace chuckled and helped her.

"Take a shower?" he asked suggesting that it might help take them out.

"No." Youko said punching him in the gut.

* * *

Since the other chapter was dwarf-chapter, I bring you another one. I love pillow fights and the last one I had had was with my friend Hannah before she moved to Belgium. I had fun writing this added a bit of what the situation on the ship was like. most of the chapters will be somewhat like this but maybe a little longer.


	23. Why Not?

Like A Boy

Chapter 21 Why Not?

I glanced up at Pyro. We were resting in the middle of the Grandline. Night had come so there wasn't much we could do about it. Because of the small size of the Striker I was pretty much forced to lay in Ace's lap now. Before I had just slept in the back, but Ace deemed that I would sleep with him.

Ace was leaning back a bit so I wasn't sitting straight up but I also wasn't lying on my back. I looked at him all the way. Ace's face was peaceful and his mouth slightly opened as he was breathing. In the darkness it was rather hard to see what he looked like. I looked down at my waist.

Ace had his arms wrapped around it securing me. I slid my hand down his arms until they reached his hands. I cupped mine on top of his and smiled a bit. One thing came to my mind as I laid with Ace here.

He was the most important person to me now.

* * *

Ace wasn't really asleep. Sure he wasn't awake, but he knew that Youko was still awake. He had felt her move her hands down to his and he knew that she had relaxed into him and finally fallen asleep. Youko was precious to him. He loved her more then he could any other girl. But why?

He was still looking for answers as to if he could even be alive. Why the hell should he be doing this? Why was he forcing himself to be with this girl? He would only hurt her in the end. A demon like him had no right to live let alone love. Then why?

Why did he love her so much? Why couldn't he stop but want to be with her? Why did he keep going to the room where she was? Why did he look for her and feel happy when he saw her face? Why did he feel warmth when he kissed her? This wasn't even allowed yet he did it. Maybe, just maybe, he should tell her. He should tell her everything.

Tell her, about who he was.

* * *

The next day brought a new island to view. They hid the Striker along a rocky coast that was a good distance from the port village that was near its coast. The two of them walked towards it. This was going to be the first stop after Scorpion. This was where a man named Blackbeard was presumably spotted.

A small canal that was drawn from the ocean spiraled through the village making them half to cross over many bridges. Ace looked around and Youko adjusted her hat.

"So, should we ask around?" she asked looking at a man who was carrying a barrel. "Ne, old man can we ask you something?"

The man put down the barrel he was carrying and looked at Youko and Ace. The two of them smiled and Ace continued. "We heard that this island had a man named Blackbeard on it." Ace said. The man nodded.

"Ah, a fat fellow. Just came here a few months ago. The island hasn't been the same ever since, there he is now." The man pointed to a man walking down the street.

Ace rushed forward and kicked Blackbeard in the head sending him into a building. "What the hell is he doing to the islands doctor!" the man asked the girl who was watching Ace with wide eyes.

"D-doctor?" Youko asked the man.

"Ah, doctor Blackbeard. Best we ever seen, the villagers adore him" The man said angrily looking at Ace. Youko face palmed and the doctor and other villagers tossed him into the canal that was moving fast.

"AAHH! ACE!" Youko called as the man disappeared sown the water road. She looked at the villagers who were glaring at her. Youko quickly bowed in an apology. "I'm so sorry, we thought you were someone else." The girl said looking at the villagers.

"He attacked me out of nowhere." The doctor said wiping blood from his mouth.

"Ace thought you were someone who had hurt a friend of ours, I gotta go help him. Ace can't swim." The girl said running along the side of the canal.

"No one can swim in that canal and OI DON'T JUMP INTO IT!" the hollers were heard on deaf ears as Youko dived into the rushing stream.

The girl instantly came up for air before sinking under the waves and down to the bottom where the water wasn't as rushed. The girl noticed Ace's bag on the bottom and grabbed it as she continued down the canal.

* * *

Youko wasn't sure how long she had actually been swimming until she saw two poles sticking in the water. The girl instantly came up and gripped it. A girl with small braids looked up at Youko as the girl climbed onto the small dock.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" the girl asked helping Youko to her feet. The brunette had to be around twelve or so.

"Yeah, thanks." Youko said taking in a few deep breaths. "Have you seen another guy come down stream?"

"You mean a black haired man with freckles?" the girl asked and Youko nodded. "Yes, he's sleeping inside. What happened?"

"He got tossed into the canal and I had to go after him." Youko said as the girl gave her a towel. Youko accepted it and dried her hair.

"Can he not swim? I know that the water is fast but you were able to swim it." the girl asked as they walked up to the house so that Youko could get better clothes on.

"Ace is a 'hammer' so he can't swim." Youko said as she put on the oversized shirt the girl handed her. Ace was blissfully sleeping in the bed with a towel on his head. Youko decided to leave him alone, for now.

"Hammer?" the girl asked clearly confused about the term that was used.

"Someone who ate a devil fruit." Youko said with a smile. The girl looked at Ace wide eyed. She had never seen a devil fruit user before. Youko chuckled and drank the milk that was given to her.

Ace woke up some time later and looked at Youko. He smiled at her and she hit him in the head with the back on the axe she was carrying. "Look at who you're attacking before you do so. Be lucky Mimi was here." The girl said pointing the blade at the man who backed up a bit.

"Okay, sorry, and thanks." Ace said smiling at the little girl. "what can we do to repay you?"

"Um, you do not have to do anything." The girl said not wanting to impose.

"We owe you for saving Pyro." Youko said with a smile.

"Well, can you please give a letter to a marine captain at the base that is near here?" the girl asked handing Ace a small piece of paper.

"Marine?" Ace asked. "We're pirates, but it sounds like fun to me."

"You're pirates?" Mimi asked clearly not aware of the fact.

"Yeah, but don't worry, we'll get it done." Youko said before pushing Ace in the direction of the Striker.

* * *

"So, do you have a plan?" Youko asked as they hid on the ledge of a cliff right outside the marine base.

"Nope, well okay yeah." Ace said as a couple of marine guards began to walk by. "Snag a couple of uniforms and go from there."

"Great plan." Youko said but went with it anyway.

Ace kept his shorts on and had the front of the shirt open and the sash untied. Youko had no choice but to keep hers closed due to wear her mark was. It was at least loose because it used to be worn by a guy. She refused to wear the sash.

Both of them wore the cap that went with the uniform and kept their stuff on the Striker which was clearly hidden. Youko's hat was backwards while Ace wore his the right way.

"If we were actual recruits for the marines, I think we would be kicked out automatically." Youko said with a chuckled as they walked into the base. Ace did as well and they went to the kitchen. "Why here?"

"I'm hungry and I say this is where they would be right now." Ace said referring to the marines who were taking a nap by the coast. Youko chuckled and they went to the food table.

Ace of course loaded three plates at once. The marines that were in the place looked at him like he was insane while Youko tried not to laugh. A kind looking woman smiled at Ace's appetite and Youko filled her own plate.

Ace glared at any man who whistled at her. She sat down next to Ace and the two of them began to eat. "So, what now?" the girl asked taking a bite of the bread. It felt nice eating food that hadn't been trying to eat her a few hours before.

"Don't know, gotta find this guy." Ace said taking a bite of his own food.

"Hey, girlie."

Youko looked at a table where a marine was smiling at her. She swallowed her food and raised an eyebrow for him to continue. The man did.

"What's a little girl like you doing here?" he asked clearly not recognizing Youko. Youko put her hand in front of Ace's mouth before the man could say anything.

"Doing what I came here to do, gotta problem with that marine boy?" she asked with a grin.

"This isn't a place for little girls." He said. Youko stood up and hovered over the man.

"Back off buddy, this little girl can fuck you up." Ace said carelessly eating some of his food.

"Yeah right." The man said. One of his superiors caught sight of the fight to be.

"Wanna put your fist where your mouth is?" Youko asked feeling the challenge emit from the man.

"You wanna fight?" the man asked. "I can't do that however. I can't go around hitting a girl; it will make me look bad."

The remark ticked Youko off and the girl didn't think twice before kicking him and sending him to the ground. She stepped on his head and prevented him from getting up. A crash from behind and Youko turned around to Ace who was standing in a similar fashion on another guy.

"I heard you talking shit about Whitebeard." The man said looking pissed.

"You aren't marines are you?" the one superior officer asked looking at Ace and Youko. He recognized neither.

"Well, I guess we figured out the next part of our plan." Ace said.

"What's that?" Youko asked.

"RUN!"

* * *

Okay, this whole marine thing is actually what I interpreted from chapter pictures around the Skypiea Arc. I'm pretty sure I got the girl's name wrong but okay. I also has a question for everybody. As you all know I created a little AU extra in this story and like i said before i plan on creating a collection of one-shots later. someone gave me the idea to make another OC and have them be paired iwth Marco in another AU series. I love the idea but I don't feel like making an OC. So I thought that if you wanted to you can send in an OC for me and i'll put it in the stories. I don't accept mary sues and remember that this person will be paired up with Marco. it can be a guy or a girl i don't care. this is what I need.

name

age

appearance (hair and eye color, etc)

clothes (What they do and don't like to wear)

personality

how they would react around loved ones (Friends, lover)

around enemies

fears

past history

anything I missed.

I hope to hear from you guys and this is all for this chapter. Saix out!


	24. Coffee and Lilies

Like A Boy

Chapter 22 Coffee and Lilies

Marines rushed past a man who was wearing a brown suit and was sitting on a windowsill with a cup of coffee in his hand. A woman wearing a white blouse and dress pants stood next to him. They watched as the marines ran past yelling about catching pirates who had snuck into the base.

The man took a sip of the coffee before looking away and opening his mouth and letting the content spill out. "What's wrong?" the woman asked looking at Ace's disgusted face.

"Bitter." Ace answered making Youko chuckle a bit. The man ran a finger on his fake mustache trying not to sneeze. How did Vista handle wearing one of these?

"Well, dressed like this we might be able to find the captain easier." Youko said as they walked to where a meeting was taking place.

The meeting itself didn't get that far because after everyone drank the extremely bitter coffee, Ace did as well even though he knew it was bitter as hell, chaos appeared. Apparently a ship that was carrying top secret information had been set on fire.

Ace and Youko went out with the other Captains at the base and saw the ship. Apparently someone had gone in to try and save the information. Ace narrowed his eyes before leaping into the flames without a second thought. Youko stood and watched as everybody else stared at the place he disappeared in the red flames in shock.

"Hurry up Pyro." Youko said impatiently. It was almost awkward standing in the middle of a bunch of marines to the young pirate.

Ace came back like he had disappeared. This time however he was carrying the unconscious marine and a suitcase. Ace's clothes were burned and he himself was still on fire. His fake mustache already gone and his freckles showing.

"The savior is still on fire!" one marine said before another yelled at Ace.

"It's Fire Fist Ace!" a man said recognizing the man as the one from the cafeteria.

"Oh shit." Ace said taking off the marine jacket he wore and rushing to Youko who had taken off the blouse she was wearing and was running in the direction of the Striker.

"The letter!" Youko said and Ace immediately ran back, ignoring the bullets that were hitting him. He stood on the Captain of the base's head and handed the letter to the man.

Bullet holes filled him but Ace ignored them as they didn't affect him and waited for the marine to take the letter. After he did, Ace jumped down and ran to his Striker where Youko was waiting for him. He started to up and left the marine base as Youko clung to the mast of the Striker where the Whitebeard Jolly Roger blew in the wind.

"Well, that was fun." Youko said when they were out of sight. Ace grinned before kissing her. Youko looked at him before pouting and looking away. Ace chuckled before lifting up a piece of paper. "What's that?"

"More information on Blackbeard." Ace said smiling and sailing in the direction of the island it said that he was on.

* * *

Youko sighed as she lay on the bed. This was the fifth island and once again another bust. How hard was it to find one man? Sure the world was big but the news of Thatch being attacked by a nakama had somehow spread around the world. So had the two of them looking for him. Did Teach know and was hiding from them?

"I'm tired." Youko said curling into a ball. Ace glanced at her before chuckling and jumping on top of the girl making the girl yelp in surprise as Ace rolled over onto his back dragging her with him.

"Ace that scared the hell out of me!" Youko said turning onto her stomach and looking at the man. Ace chuckled and pecked her on the lips.

Youko sat up and got off of Ace who sat up and looked at the girl. "Did you get anything new?" she asked looking at him. Ace shook his head.

He had gone through town to see if anybody knew anything but they all said that it would cost him. That probably meant that it was false info and that the person just wanted to make quick cash.

"Man, Blackbeard can't be that hard to find could he?" Youko asked looking at the ceiling.

"He's one man in the entire ocean." Ace said. He understood where Youko was going though. The hunt had taken a few months now do to how long it took to go through the different islands. He glanced down at the book that was on the dresser and picked it up.

"Devil fruit types?" the man questioned. Youko picked it up and began to flip through it.

"Yeah, I was curious about why Teach wanted the Devil Fruit that Thatch found so I was looking for it in here. There are so many different types of Devil Fruits." The girl said flipping through before landing on the page that had the exact fruit that Thatch had found.

"Yami Yami no Mi?" Ace questioned looking at the page and then at Youko.

"Fits him doesn't it?" Youko said looking at the type it was and then at Ace.

"Ah, it does. This is one hell of a fruit that Thatch found. Should we tell him what it does?" Ace asked.

"And ruin all the fun of when he eats it?" Youko asked leaning against the man since Ace had taken the book and had it in his lap.

"True, but that's if he does. But it would be funny of he ate it and became freaked out and we tell him what it does." The man said with a small chuckle from the mental image that played through his mind.

"Funnier than a spider?" Youko asked.

"Yes." Ace said as Youko flipped through the pages. "What devil fruit would you eat if you were to?"

"I don't really wanna eat one." Youko said. "If I did, then who would save your sorry ass?"

"Okay, but if you did?" Ace asked and the girl flipped through to the Zoan types.

"Something with wings." Youko said looking at the bird Zoan type fruits.

"Wings?" Ace questioned.

"Ah, if I can't swim in the free sea, then flying in the sky would suit me fine as well." The girl said smiling a bit.

"So you want to be like Marco?" Ace asked. Luffy looked at him and chuckled.

"Jealous much?" Youko asked with a laugh. Ace looked at her and frowned before the girl pushed him a bit. "I'm joking, I still want wings though."

"You really do like this sort of stuff?"Ace asked as Youko went to the back of the Zoan section where mythical Zoans were.

"Mythical? Isn't that like Marco?" she asked looking at the little information there was.

"Ah, they say that they're even rarer than logia." Ace said looking at the fruits that were listed. "There's also ancient Zoan."

"Ancient?" Youko asked looking up at Ace.

"Ah, like dinosaurs and anything that went extinct on all but a few islands." Ace said looking at the fruits.

"There are dinosaurs here?" Youko asked not really wanting to meet one.

"Yup, and there are also a lot of other things." Ace said with a smile.

* * *

Ace walked around town carelessly. Youko was still asleep back at the hotel and he wanted to go out. She could figure out where he was and all. And if anything did happen, all she had to do was find the chaos that was happening and she would find him. He was also hungry.

Ace looked at the stands that were displayed out on all of the streets. The vendors were saying different things and yelling over the crowd about deals and such like that. Ace walked around ignoring them. He really didn't have anything he needed to buy to he wasn't really listening but a man did step out in front of him.

"Hey, Nii-san, I got something for you." The man said leading Ace over to his stand. "You look like a man who's got a girl. Am I right?" Ace nodded his head.

"Good, ever gotten her anything?" the man asked and Ace shook his head. He had never gotten Youko anything before.

"Nii-san, that isn't a way to keep a girl. You have to give her something every now and then." The man said sounding like a man of experience. "What's she like and I'll tell you what would be best for her."

"Hm, she's free spirited and quick tempered. She loves to swim but wishes she had wings to fly. Angers easily but looks cute when is and she laughs like a kid and acts like one sometimes too." Ace said smiling a bit as he talked about Youko.

"Seems like you love her a lot Nii-san." The man said looking through what he had. "Give her this." The man handed the object to Ace who looked at it and smiled.

"Thanks Oss-san." He said walking away.

"OI YOU GOTTA PAY FOR IT!"

* * *

Youko sat in the chair and looked through the book again. She was really curious about the different fruits there were. Ace said that it was rare to find logias and that zoans and parmecias were easier. He also said that ancient and mythical zoans were the rarest. This was all too confusing. She didn't even get what the fruits actually did to give people their weird powers. Apparently nobody did.

"Guess I might as well not think about." Youko said shutting the book and looking up at Ace as the man walked into the room. She smiled at him and he walked over to her.

"Cover your eyes for a minute." Ha said moving in front of the girl.

"That is questionable but okay." The blue haired girl said shutting her green eyes.

Ace knelt in front of Youko and pulled out the clip before carefully placing it in her hair. Youko twitched as he clipped the white flower into her hair. "Okay." Ace said and Youko opened her eyes. Pyro was right in front of her and smiling.

Youko moved her hand to her hair where Ace had attempted and failed at putting it in her hair. He smiled sheepishly as she pulled it out and looked at the white lily that had two silver feathers attached to it.

"I found it in the market place." Ace said as the girl put it in her hair properly. How the hell could she do that? She didn't even like to dress up.

"Thanks." Youko said wrapping her arms around Ace in a hug. Ace didn't expect her to do this but hugged back. "And I happen to know how to put my hair up nicely. I put the flower in my hair for that dance."

"Ah, I didn't think of you as one who could do that sort of stuff." Ace said smiling sheepishly again. The flower fit the girl.

"Ha ha. Let me find a mirror. I wanna see what this looks like." The girl said standing up and going to the one behind the dresser. She moved a few locks of hair out of her eyes and looked her reflection in the glass.

She happened to like the flower. The white lily with the feathers actually looked good to her. She liked it on her too. "Pretty." The girl said unconsciously staring at the silk like petals of the flower.

"Fits you." Ace said wrapping his arms around the girl's waist, a little lower than he usually did.

Youko looked up at Ace who smiled. He lifted one hand and carefully removed the flower from Youko's hair confusing the girl. Ace smiled before taking Youko's hand and walking her to the bathroom. Youko was still confused but butterflies began to form in her stomach.

"Ace?" she questioned as the man began to undo his belts. Still holding Youko's hand, he began to undo hers. Youko blushed heavily before trying to stop him but Ace didn't let her.

"What's wrong?" he asked becoming face to face with the girl. Youko felt her pants began to slip a bit without the support needed to keep them up.

"What are you doing?" Youko asked trying to sound confident.

"Let's take a shower." Ace suggested with a grin.

"What?" Youko asked trying to get out of Ace's grip.

"It's okay," Ace said cupping the girl's face. Youko looked up at him warily. "I won't do anything to you." The promise made Youko calm down but she was still against it.

Ace started the water for the shower and Youko looked away from him as she took her top off. Why was she doing this? Ace's back was turned; she could easily lock him in the bathroom and not have to do this. But for some reason she just stood there and started to get undressed for this. It was confusing to her and made her scared at the same time.

"Ready?" Ace asked. Youko looked at him. Ace already had his shorts off and held the door for her. Youko took the rest of her clothes off and stepped into the steam filled shower.

The hotel they were at had one of those stand in shower rooms. It was barely big enough for the two of them. Ace came in after her and closed the door. He water was burning her skin but she ignored it as Ace gently placed her against the tiled wall of the shower.

"Ace, this is…" the girl said as Ace gently kissed her cheek.

"No one is going to see us." Ace assured her. Youko nodded but Ace knew that the girl was still shy about what was going on. "I promised that I wouldn't do anything to you." He reminded her and Youko nodded as Ace kissed her.

Youko let Ace deepen the kiss and wrapped her arms around him, her chest pressing against his. The water hit both of them but the heat seemed to be nonexistent. Ace lifted Youko up a bit and moved under the shower itself. Youko yelped as the hot water hit her back. Ace chuckled and turned it down a bit.

"Too hot for you?" he asked as the steam in the room began to lighten a bit.

"That was almost boiling." Youko said forgetting that Ace was practically carrying her.

"Sorry." Ace said lowering his head and licking the rim of her lips. Youko blushed at the touch but let Pyro slip his tongue into her mouth.

She couldn't hold back the moans that escaped her throat at the touch and Ace seemed to chuckle at this as he kept exploring the inside of her mouth. The kiss continued till the water became too cold for them to handle it.

Ace shut the water off and Youko climbed out of the stall grabbing a towel and beginning to dry her hair. Ace grabbed one as well and wrapped it around Youko. He picked up the girl and sat her on the sink counter. Youko stared at Ace with a frown.

"Wasn't all that bad." He said teasing her a bit.

"Just hit me with boiling and then freezing water." Youko said trying to be sarcastic.

"Everything else was fine." Ace said with a chuckle.

"Shut up." Youko said looking away from the man. Ace chuckled before kissing the girl's neck making her flinch.

"You ticklish?" Ace taunted looking up at the girl as he ran his lips across her neck making the girl flinch.

"Stop~." Youko said trying not to laugh at the touch.

Ace chuckled but looked up at the girl. He smiled before lifting the girl up and carrying her bridal style out of the bathroom. Youko clung onto Ace's neck as he brought the girl over and placed her down. He leaned over her and smiled.

"What are you doing?" Youko asked as Ace got closer.

"Putting you to bed." He said with a sly smile.

* * *

Okay, just wanted to tell you all who was a little confused with the whole OC deal. that wont be part of this story. that will be part of the collection of one-shots and drabbles i plan on writing that will probably be one hundred percent AUs. I have gotten a couple but just wanted to clear that up.

okay, on with this chapter. the lily thing popped in my head the other day and i wanted to add it in. same with the whole devil fruit list thing and all. i just have a question. Did i rush things a bit with the shower scene. if so I'll update it. and if not, should i have them have sex and if so should i explain it and rate the chapter M or should i skip over it somehow. or should I completely erase the thought from my mind and act like it never came to it. I'll wait for your opinion on this because I am totally clueless on what to do and what you guys will like.

Please tell me. PM or review. either one is fine.


	25. Demon in Human Form

Like A Boy

**Going to say this now that a lot of people wanted this mature so I did it so this chapter is rated M. If you don't want to read than please skip and read what is after since it is important.

* * *

**

Chapter 23 Demon in Human Form

Youko stared up at Ace, not getting what the man was talking about yet. What did he mean by putting her to bed? "I'm not tired." Youko said which made Ace chuckle again and he kneeled over her and removed the towel from her hair before wrapping it around her wrist attaching her to the bed stand. "Ace?"

"Don't worry." He said leaning over the girl kissing her before removing the towel that was wrapped around her body.

Youko's eyes widened as Ace ran a hand down her bare side and down her leg before stopping at her knee and trailing upwards. Ace never released their lip lock and used his other arm balance himself above the girl. Youko tried to talk against Ace's lips but it was useless. What he was doing was scary. When Ace finally released her mouth she frowned up at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked and Ace stopped his one hand on her thigh. He looked at the girl before untying Youko's hands and moving next to her. Youko sat up and covered her body and stared at Ace who had his back turned to the girl. "Ace?"

"Never mind." He said standing up and walking to the arm chair that was next to the closed windows which were covered by thick blinds. "Forget that happened."

Youko said nothing and watched as Ace just looked away from her. She had finally got what Ace had wanted to do. A sickening feeling filled her and she looked at Ace feeling guilt raise in her stomach. She had loved the man for months now, been in this world for almost a year and when he wanted to go forward, she was the one who had been blind. Youko sucked in a breath and stood up and walked over to the man who still didn't look at her.

"Ace?" the blue haired girl asked but Pyro didn't turn to her. Did he feel guilty for doing that to her even though it was really hers?

"Don't bother." Ace said in a harsh tone. "I shouldn't even have tried it."

Youko looked down at the ground and sucked in a huge breath before looking at Ace with determination. "Will you make me yours?" the sound came out in a whisper and Ace turned to the girl, not really hearing it but also hearing it enough to question what had been said. Youko caught the look that the black haired man was giving her and looked right into his black eyes.

"Will you make me yours?" she asked again but this time louder and stronger than before. Ace stared at the girl and opened his mouth to say something but closed it when words never came.

He stood up and grabbed the girl's hand before forcing his mouth onto hers and stepping into her, touching each other and neither cared. Ace pushed the girl onto the bed and ran his hand into the area between her legs and his touch released a moan from the girl.

Youko ran her hands along Ace's bare chest and slightly arched into him. Ace had complete control and he knew that very well. The man bit down onto the sensitive part of her neck and caused another moan to release from the girl's lips followed by a whimper.

"You a virgin?" Ace asked the girl, licking the side of her mouth. Red covered the girl's face and Ace took that as a yes. Ace sat up slightly and forced her legs up.

"Ah, no!" Youko said but Ace ignored it. The words that were escaping from the girl's lips wanted him to do it even more. Ace continued to feel the insides of Youko and the girl made more noises which seemed to just make it continue.

Ace bent over and licked the girl's ear, ignoring the hair that went into his mouth as he did so and chuckled as he felt the girl's panting next to him. He leaned up a bit and smashed his mouth against Youko's, forcing her tongue into it. Youko breathed against this and felt Ace's breathe mixed into her own.

"This is going to hurt." Ace said separating the girl's hips. Youko knew what was coming but the scream that escaped from her lips as Ace thrusted forward couldn't be stopped. Ace once again smashed his mouth on hers and muffled the noise.

Small tears rolled down the girl's cheeks as Ace leaned over even more. She gripped the back of his neck and allowed herself to be sat up as the man leaned in more and kept her close. She was very happy at that moment.

* * *

Ace lifted his head and stared at the girl next to him. Youko was still asleep and she probably would be for a while now. He covered his face after spotting the hickey that he had created on her neck, right where he had bitten her. That had probably been a mistake.

Sure he was a guy and when a guy sees a girl he likes and he has for a long time he can't help what over comes him. Maybe he had been a little horny but she knew what was going on and had let him do it though the scream that had come from her lips had scared him a bit. He didn't mean to hurt her.

A small whine came from Youko and the blue haired girl looked at him before curling into a ball and hid her face from the man. That however did not prevent Ace from being able to witness the red blush that covered her face and ears. Ace smiled at the reaction but frowned again, running a hand through the girl's blue hair that was now past her shoulders.

Youko looked at Ace carefully and noticed the look her had one his face and straightened up and looked at him curiously. "What is it?" she asked him curious as to why he had such a face on him.

"Nothing, I just don't think I should have done that." He said looking at the ceiling. Youko raised an eyebrow in a disapproving way before leaning over Ace and staring at him.

"Ace, you just fucked me, don't go saying that it was a mistake." Youko said grabbing his cheek and pulling it.

"That's not the reason." Ace said against the pull and his answer mad the girl release it. Did she think he was Luffy or something?

"Then why?" Youko asked in the same tone she had before. Ace sighed and glanced at her knowing that it was only fair for her to know.

"You know who Gold Roger is, right?" he asked sitting up and looking at the girl. Youko sat up and looked at the man before nodding. The fact that neither of them had clothes on never came to her mind.

"His real name is Gol D. Roger." Youko nodded again knowing not to interrupt as Ace continued to explain. "I took my mother's surname of Portgas because I owe her a great debt. But my real name, the name I was born to was Gol D. Ace."

Ace never looked up at Youko not wanting to see her face as she realized what he had been getting at. In his mind, the girl was going to look down upon him, maybe even look at him with disgust and scorn like so many people have told him whenever he asked if Roger had a kid.

"Ace, who is your father?" Youko asked.

"Whitebeard, why?" Ace asked confused as to why Youko asked the question.

"You said it, not me." Youko said with a smile. Ace looked up at the girl in shock as the girl looked at him with a look that told her she loved him.

The next thing Youko did proved it. The girl wrapped her arms around Ace's neck and kissed him. She was the one who kissed him this time, not him kissing her. Youko had never done that, she had never been the one to kiss him and even though it was only short, it was sweat.

"I hope this doesn't make me pregnant since this world obviously doesn't have birth control." Youko said looking at her stomach. Ace chuckled and placed the girl into his lap though Youko pretty much went 'poof' when she realized that neither of them were wearing clothes.

"What's wrong with getting pregnant?" Ace asked wrapping his arms around the girl and holding her tight.

"I don't like kids." Youko said bluntly and Ace raised his eyebrows with a small smile at it.

"You know that that is destined to make you pregnant?" Ace said and Youko stared at him in shock believing him one hundred percent.

* * *

"So, this time Banaro Island it is?" Youko asked as she stared at the bit of information Ace had been able to get.

"Yup, apparently he has been seen heading in that direction so we might as well check it out." Ace said as they raced through the water towards the island.

"That's pretty close to Water 7." The blue haired girl said removing her bangs from her face. She really needed to get her hands on a pair of scissors when Pyro wasn't looking.

"Yup, if this is the real deal, we'll be in the new World soon since it's pretty close." The man said and Youko glanced back at him with a grin on her face.

"Guess we should get going so we can see of it is." She said and Ace picked up speed as they sailed across the water and towards the small island.

* * *

Okay and done with this and onto the fight that a lor of you have probably been wondering about. Okay and also I am also starting a voting pole on whether Youko should be pregnant or not. I do a lot of voting poles but I don't care. If the answer is yes then I already have everything I need about the kid and everything and my sister likes my thoughts about it. Hope you liked the chapter.


	26. Fire For the Traitor

Like A Boy

Chapter 24 Fire For the Traitor

"You've been staring at your stomach for a while." Ace said glancing at Youko who instantly looked up trying to prove that she wasn't.

Ace chuckled before continuing his way to the next island that they were planning on hitting. A child huh? That wasn't something he would want, mainly for how shitty his childhood had been. He was a demon child through birth and an infamous pirate, if he had a kid, it would be even worse for him or her. No, he prayed that Youko wouldn't get pregnant. Luckily, if you could call it that, Youko didn't seem to want one either. Even if it was for an entirely different reason.

"So, is this one almost certain?" Youko asked looking back at Ace since she had decided to sit on the front of the Striker instead of the back.

"Yup, apparently he plans on taking over the island because it's rich in some sort of food." Ace said.

"Probably pie." Youko said with a sigh.

"Well anyway, if he's there then we simply kick his ass and get back to the ship." Ace said simply as said island came into view.

"We only beat him up right?" Youko asked and Ace nodded.

"He only attacked Thatch so we can't kill him but we can beat him up enough to show him not to mess with us." Ace said with a grin and Youko laughed a bit.

"Meaning we beat him till he asks us to kill him?" she asked.

"Exactly." Ace said with a smirk and the girl began to laugh out loud as they came closer to the island.

* * *

Ace and Youko watched as Teach and four other people walked down the deserted village after obviously pillaging it. They were talking though it couldn't be heard by the two pirates who were positioned on a roof. When the group was right in front of them, Ace called out to the pirate.

"Oi, Teach, we've been looking for you." The man said catching the attention of all of the pirates. Teach looked up at the two of them, Ace who was sitting on the roof while Youko stood behind him with her arms crossed, and smiled.

"Ah, Commander." Teach said seeing the man once again. "It is you, what's up?"

"Commander is a term used for respect." Ace said looking at the man. "You're mocking me."

"So you are Fire Fist Ace I assume." The pirate with the top hat said and Ace nodded.

"Yes, pleased to meet you." Ace said to be polite before turning his attention back to Teach. Youko stayed silent and just let Ace do what he wanted.

"How did you find me Ace?" Teach asked, not failing to recognize the other girl who was watching him with her usual face.

"Stop beating around the bush Teach or should I call you Blackbeard now? You've become quite the captain." Ace said looking at the small crew.

"Ah, I know why you two are here." Blackbeard said still smiling and showing his broken and missing teeth. "I killed Thatch. I did the greatest crime on a pirate ship."

"Thatch is still alive." Youko said catching the man off guard. "But that doesn't mean that we can't beat you."

"So he actually survived." Teach said almost surprised to hear it.

"Ah, but it was still an attempt on his life so it's my job to put you in your place." Ace said simply.

"Okay, I know, but before that. Ace Youko, why don't you two become my nakama? Whitebeard's age is over. I'm going to become the king." The man said laughing at the thought of him becoming the king. "All I have to do is go to Water 7 and beat Mugiwara no Luffy."

"Luffy?" Ace asked narrowing his eyes at the man.

"Ah, you know him?" Blackbeard asked surprised at it.

"Now I guess I do have to kill you." Ace said simply. "That's my little brother. I won't let you touch him and there is no way I'll be your-"

Augur lifted his long rifle and instantly shot at Ace yet it was futile for the bullets went right through him. "Nakama." Ace said finishing his sentence and glancing at Youko but the girl had gotten out of the way. "Someone doesn't have manners." Ace stood up and put his hands in a gun shape before firing out fire bullets which caused the gunner to run.

Ace looked up as the wrestler attempted to drop a building on the two of them. Youko moved to the right as Ace encircled himself in flames and shot a tower of the orange and red stuff up, engulfing and completely destroying the building. The two enemy pirates instantly went back in front of the building that two of them were on and stared up at them.

"Augur, Burgess, back off." Blackbeard said more of warning his crew. "You still aren't any match for him." The man's attention was drawn back to the building as Ace sent an explosion after them, knocking them back and affectively burning them.

Ace jumped off of the building with Youko behind him and the two walked through the flaming building that had been sliced in half. Ace extinguished the flames as he went through them, allowing them to be safe enough for the other girl to walk through. The crew looked up at the freckled faced man before drawing their attention to their captain who had gotten the worst of the burn.

Ace and Youko stood on a pile of rubble and watched as Blackbeard flailed a bit before finally extinguishing the harsh flames that covered him. Ace smirked at this while Youko found it hard to believe that the man had been able to beat Thatch even if it had been a sneak attack.

"I get it now Ace, you're serious about killing me." Teach said standing up and looking at the man, panting heavily from the attack. "But I had no choice but to attack Thatch, he had the Devil Fruit that I wanted."

"You didn't get it though." Youko pointed out and the man grimaced realizing that the girl was going to point out all the things he messed up on. His face made Youko smirk but it went back to being serious since even though she was still a rookie, she knew that it took brute strength to beat a commander.

"Ah, I didn't but it doesn't matter. I may have failed at getting the fruit that I dreamt of but I can still accomplish my goal of becoming king." Blackbeard said and Ace inwardly sighed knowing very well about the man's lack of ambition. "Ace Youko why don't the two of you join my crew?"

"We told you once that we have no interest in that." Youko said and the man laughed at the girl's defiance as well.

"Ace, you really know how to pick a girl." Teach said glancing at Youko who had changed a lot since the last time he had seen her. In a good way too.

"Get your eyes off of Youko." Ace said flashing fire in front of the man's face and blinding him enough so that Ace could surround him with small green lights.

The fat man stared at them confused before Ace instantly set them on fire, surrounding the man in even more flames. Teach howled in pain as the fire burned is skin and his crew could be of no help. The man rolled around pathetically again and finally the flames were extinguished. The man sat up and instantly pulled out a gun and shot Ace in the head even though he knew that it was futile.

"You really are desperate to live." Ace said walking closer to the man who randomly fired at him though Ace made sure no bullets hit Youko who still hadn't learned to dodge them.

"Zehaha, you care about Youko yet you leave her by herself over there." Teach said and Ace whipped around and saw the one with the top hat and cane come up behind the unsuspecting girl.

"Youko get down!" Ace said and Youko instantly ducked down before the cane could ram her neck.

The blue haired girl clenched her teeth and swung her leg up though it was easily dodged by the man. Youko instantly went down more and swung her leg around to trip the man who fell before jumping back. Youko stood up and looked at the man but glanced around as well to see if any of the others were around.

"You have to faster Laffite!" Blackbeard said and the man apologized before looking at Youko, smirking through his blood red lips.

"She's gotten stronger." Ace said with smiled before getting his fist ready and once again sending a mass amount of flames at the traitor who screamed in pain again. "You seem to be the same as you were before, maybe even weaker."

"Give me a chance to fight back." Teach said angrily and Ace simply scoffed it off before kicking Blackbeard into a building.

"That's only for when I'm sparring with my nakama." Ace said simply and almost disgusted by the man thinking that he would go easy on him.

"Aren't I your nakama?" Teach asked a little desperate to get Ace not to kill him.

"No, you aren't. Someone who tries to kill another is not a nakama of mine. You disgraced the mark of my father." Ace said simply before easily lighting the wood house on fire.

* * *

"You are a strange little girl." Laffite said smiling like usual as he twirled his cane and walked around the girl who never let him out of her sight.

"How so?" Youko asked as she kept her eyes on the thing.

"You look like a girl yet you don't seem to act like one much." Laffite said simply, thrusting the cane forward and Youko instantly ducked before jumping back so that the man couldn't knee her. She skidded but quickly side stepped as the wrestler brought down another house.

"Do you like dropping things on other people?" she asked before glancing at the sickly looking one of the group who was on a horse.

"Would you like an apple?" he asked coughing and rasping as he talked and handing a basket to the girl.

"LIKE HELL GET SERIOUS!" Youko yelled punching the man who fell off the horse who soon collapsed as well. "Why am I stuck with these guys?"

* * *

Ace looked at the pile of rubble in front of him and waited for the other man to emerge. When he did Ace created a lance made of fire and instantly threw it at him, hitting Blackbeard in the center of the chest. The man screamed in agony as he tried his hardest to pull it out but his hands couldn't hold onto the thing and it continued to burn him before Ace created another and sent it through his throat, ending the man's life instantly.

Ace turned to Youko who was surrounded on all four sides by the other members of Blackbeard's crew who still hadn't noticed that their captain was dead. Ace noticed that it was only three since one was one the ground with a welt on his head suggesting that he had pissed the girl off in one way or another.

"Hiken!"

The man instantly shot his fist at the gunner and wrestler who were sent sprawling into another building while Laffite turned to Ace before noticing his captain, dead on the ground with smoldering lances stuck in him. Youko noticed it too and adjusted her hat before turning to the last one standing.

"Do what you like, got nothing to do with you anymore." She said walking over to Ace who tossed her bag to her and both left. Only one of the Blackbeard pirates was left standing and the captain dead.

* * *

Yosh, all done. Sorry that it didn't come out early. I am impatient but also a major procrastinator and the fact that my sister keeps asking me to draw stuff for her. I still have one to draw and another to ink. Anyway, I hope this was okay. I had to read the manga and to fit what happened since Teach didn't have is Devil Fruit so I hope I did okay. Teach dying was part of my plan because if Ace had left him alive, he would have gone after Luffy which might have added a twist to the story but I'm not that evil. No, I just didn't want Luffy in jail. I hope Youko's fight didn't make her seem too much of a Mary Sue. Well I hope you liked it and all comments are accepted except flames. I'm an open person who would like to hear what you think.

Like A Boy


	27. Welcome to the Family

Like A Boy

Chapter 25 Welcome to the Family

"Hey Ace," the blue haired girl leaned back to glance at the freckled faced pirate who was looking at the sky. "Your brother's in Water 7, wanna see him again?"

"Nah," Ace said looking at the girl who raised an eyebrow. "Let him do what he wants, he doesn't need me watching over him."

"He destroyed the government's judicial island Enies Lobby." The girl said flipping through the article in the newspaper that she had gotten from the news coo.

"How far away is the island?" Ace asked immediately and Youko laughed at the man's tone.

* * *

"So, from what we heard, he's here at the Galley La headquarters" Youko said as she and Ace walked through the thick crowd of spectators and reporters who seemed to want an interview with the same pirate that they were aiming for.

The two of them ignored the crowd and the people and easily walked over the fence that surrounded the gate. It was only about a foot tall and was very easy to scale for the two pirates. Nobody noticed them as they walked through the grounds that were being repaired by workers who were too busy.

"It should be over here." Ace said as they walked to a long building and noticed people inside of it. Youko caught a glimpse of a giant frog but ignored it as she and Ace walked pass the people who were questioning who they were and went inside.

* * *

"Yo."

Everybody in the room, minus Luffy who was still asleep turned to Ace and Youko who were standing in the doorway and smiling at the people. Most were surprised at the sudden appearance of the two pirates but Sanji instantly had a heart in his eye when he saw Youko.

"Ah~ Youko-chan it's good to see you again!" the blonde said rushing over to Youko but Ace stuck his arm out and tripped the man instantly. Sanji stood up and looked at the man but Youko instantly stopped Ace by gutting him.

"Hey, Sanji, Chopper, Nami." The blue haired girl said smiling at them and Sanji instantly forgot about Ace and went in full attention on the girl.

"Ah Youko-chan is as compassionate as ever." the blonde said but Youko ignored him and walked over to say hi to Nami and Chopper and to greet Robin.

"So who are they?" Robin asked and Ace bowed to Robin and introduced himself.

"Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Portgas D. Ace, I'm Luffy's older brother." The freckled faced man said and glanced at Youko who was staring at Luffy who was both eating and sleeping at the same time.

"I'm Youko." The girl said smiling at the black haired woman who smiled back.

"What brings you two here?" Nami asked and Ace smiled at her.

"We just finished our business and heard that you were here so we came to say hi." The man said and Nami looked at him slightly confused.

"We got rid of Blackbeard and heard what Luffy and you guys did at Enies Lobby so Ace is here to chew Luffy out." Youko said and Ace laughed slightly.

"That figures." Nami said with a small sigh.

"So this is Mugiwara Bro's bro?" Franky asked looking at Ace who bowed politely before glancing at Youko who was talking to Chopper. "You all seem to know each other."

"We met up with them in Arabasta." Youko said and Franky looked at the girl again.

"So you were able to find Blackbeard, but I thought you said that you were only going to put him in his place." Sanji questioned. "You said you got rid of him."

"We had a reason to do so." Ace said glancing at the blue haired girl who laughed slightly at the fact that Ace wasn't saying the real reason. "Where's the others?"

"Marimo is somewhere. Probably got lost again and Vivi-chan decided to stay with her country." Sanji said.

"Usopp?" Youko questioned and the crew became quiet. "Never mind. Do you want to wait for your brother to wake up?"

"Yeah, he's probably still exhausted after that incident." Ace said before glancing at the wall that was next to the one where Luffy was.

The group turned in shock as the wall crashed down and a group of men appeared before them. One man, the one who most likely broke the wall, looked at the group before noticing Luffy.

"WAKE UP!"

Everyone turned around as the man shot pass them and rammed his fist into the rubber boy's head, crashing him to the floor. Ace flinched as he realized who it was.

"OUCH OUCH IT HURTS!" Luffy screamed as he held his head the sported a welt.

"It hurts?" Sanji questioned. "You're a rubber man, how does a simple punch hurt?"

"There is no escape from the Fist of Love." The man said removing his dog like hood and showing his true face. "I've heard you've been doing some reckless stuff, Luffy."

"G-g-g-gee-chan?" Luffy questioned staring at the man in fear.

"Gramps?" they questioned knowing very well who he was. The only ones who weren't shocked were Youko, who knew that the man was Ace's gee-chan so obviously Luffy's as well and Ace himself who was clearly pissed.

"Luffy, is this guy really your grandfather?" Sanji questioned and Luffy nodded.

"Ah, don't try and fight him." Luffy said shocking his crew. "Gee has almost killed me hundreds of times in the past."

"Now, now don't go talking bad about me." The man said smiling at them but not failing to notice a steaming, literally, Ace. "When I threw you into the jungle at night, tossed you into a bottomless ravine and tied you to balloons, it was all to make you into a strong man."

"I think I've seen what gives Luffy his strong will to live." Sanji said.

"OI, gee gee, how many times do I have to tell you…" everyone watched as Ace came out of now where and high kicked the marine in the jaw. "QUITE HITTING LUFFY!"

Garp fell backwards but instantly shot up and glared at his other grandson. "How dare you hit your grandfather!" the man said but Ace wasn't fazed.

"When the hell did you do all those things to Luffy?" the man asked and Garp seemed slightly scared at the look Ace had on his face.

"You going to stop your man?" Nami asked and Youko shrugged.

"I've never seen Ace like this but it is rather entertaining." The girl said catching the vice-admiral's attention.

"Ah, I remember you, you're that girl form the time we visited Whitebeard." The man said and Youko looked at Garp.

"Oi, you picking on Youko know too?" Ace asked but was ignored.

"She yours?" Garp asked smiling at Ace who looked at him in shock before nodding making Garp laugh. "Guess we'll have to give her the, Welcome to the D Family Ritual."

"Oi, wait, what's that supposed to mean?" Ace asked turning to the man who had ignored him and walked to the shorter girl who was as confused as he was.

"So how should we do this?" the man asked and Youko became even more confused.

"Do what?" she asked and the man looked at her before laughing.

"If you are going to be my granddaughter-in-law, I have to welcome you to the family." The man said slamming his hand onto her back.

"Why do I not want to be part of it?" the girl asked herself and Luffy just laughed at the girl's tone.

"How much food can we eat?' the man asked and Youko looked confused before her face became one of disgust.

"I don't think I want to know that." The girl said looking away and Garp laughed again.

"She's perfect!" he said slamming his hand onto her back again and Youko became even more confused.

* * *

"Eh~ you two leaving already?" Luffy asked holding the two welts on his head, one from Garp and the other from Ace when the man had 'talked' to him about what he had done on the Judicial Island.

"Yeah, we only came for some minor business. We have to get back to the ship." Ace said as he and Youko walked away.

"BYE BYE!" Luffy said waving after his brother and Youko who waved back.

"I have to get going too." Garp said after he had talked to Luffy about his father and other things that also seemed to confuse the boy to no end.

"Okay bye." Luffy said simply earning another welt on his head.

"That was too fast!" the man said furiously.

"What the hell!" Luffy asked glaring up at the man.

"At least be a little more compassionate about like you did with Ace. I'm the grandfather you haven't seen in a long time." Garp said glaring at Luffy.

"All you've done is hit me!" Luffy complained and Garp got on him again.

"I still want to be loved by my grandson!"

* * *

"You have very interesting grandfather." Youko said as she and Ace walked back to the Striker that was at the port.

Ace grabbed her hand and laughed a bit as they walked away from the main crowds. "Yeah, but now you have to deal with him." Ace said laughing at the remembrance of the fact that Garp had accepted Youko into the family though it made her grimace.

"Are you and Luffy not blood siblings?" Youko asked as she remembered that Garp had said that Luffy's father was Dragon.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't be brothers." Ace said looking at the girl who smiled up at him.

"I never said that it did." The girl said and Ace pulled her cheek slightly which caused Youko to grab his before snatching his hat and running forward.

"Ah, give it back!" Ace said running after the girl who began to laugh as she ran down the streets of Water 7 with Ace right behind her.

* * *

Sorry that this is late. I lost internet for a while and was unable to update but I am now and I has this up. I had fun writing how Garp interacts with them and everything. This had to be one of my favorite sections of the anime and YES the new chapter is up and I love the new designs. Snaji's left eye is creepy. I mean the eyebrows go the same way and death to the impostors and yes my dad gave me donuts. I am very happy right now and Youko stole Ace's hat again! Hope you liked!


	28. Shabody Archipelago

Like A Boy

Chapter 26 Shabody Archipelago

Youko watched as Ace hid the Striker under the roots of the large trees that made up the island that they were on. Though it was only a grove of trees and technically couldn't be called an island, it was still large enough to hold thousands of people. Ace had the boat in place and walked up to the girl who stood up and followed the man through town.

"So, how does it work again?" Youko asked and Ace grabbed her hands as they left the outlaw district.

"We have to get the Striker coated with what makes the bubbles you see floating around here." Ace said pointing to the clear bubbles that floated around. "After that's done, we can go underwater."

"Ten thousand feet?" Youko questioned since that was how far under it took to get to Mermaid Island and Ace nodded. "Why can't it just be another mountain like the first way?"

"You want to ride the mountain again?" Ace asked remembering how the girl had pretty much flown backwards and off the Striker when they first left the New World.

"So how long does coating take?" the girl asked and Ace laughed at her instant reply as they wondered the streets.

"Depends, though since the Striker is pretty small it won't take too long so maybe a day or two." Ace said as they walked into the direction of the coater that Oyaji went to.

* * *

Youko and Ace looked at the bar name and both got the same feeling though Ace might just have been his stomach telling him that he was hungry. Youko sighed and opened the door to Shakky's Rip-Off Bar even though the sounds of fighting could be heard from the inside of the place. As soon as she opened the door, Youko met with what she had expected even though she had never been to the place before. A woman, young looking but probably middle aged, was holding the collars of three men and had a cigarette in her teeth.

"Ah welcome." The woman said looking at the two of them before bringing her attention back to the men in front of her. "Let me just finish this group off."

Ace and Youko sat at the bar and waited for the black haired woman to finish beating the men who had refused to pay and getting every penny they had with them which barely covered their drinking tab. The woman looked at the two pirates and handed them a drink before leaning against the bar and smiling at the two of them.

"You two here to see Rayleigh?" the woman asked and Ace nodded.

"Ah, we're heading back to the New World and I need the Striker coated." Ace said and Shakky smiled even though her sigh was audible.

"Well that's a problem." The woman said catching the two pirates' attention. "Rayleigh has been missing for about half a year now."

"Ah man, does that old man ever stop messing around with women?" Ace asked and Youko became confused as to who they were talking about.

"Nope but speaking of women, seems you got one for yourself." Shakky said glancing at Youko who looked at the older woman before remembering that she never stated her name.

"Ah, I'm Youko." The girl said finishing up her drink and Shakky got her more.

"She's cute Ace-chan." Shakky said and Ace laughed as the woman smiled at Youko.

"Mind if I call you Ocean-chan?" the woman asked and Youko shook her head mainly because she didn't want to be rude. "Well since Rayleigh isn't here, I can get you guys an appointment with the next best guy though he isn't cheap."

"Okay, thanks Shakky." Ace said and the woman smiled before leaving the bar since the two of them were the only customers she had.

* * *

"Well we got the Striker coated, what do we do until it's done?" Youko asked as she and Ace walked through the Groves and looked around.

"Hm, you don't like shopping and I'm thanking god for that and so we have the Amusement Park…" Ace began.

"Where?" Youko asked looking at the man with a large grin.

"It's over here." Ace said laughing a bit at the girl's enthusiasm. "You really are a kid."

"When it involves roller coasters, I don't care." Youko said as they walked down the busy streets.

Ace instantly pushed Youko into an alley and followed before carefully glancing out and looking at the streets. Youko wanted to question but stopped when she noticed that people had gotten down onto their knees and were bowing down. A man, riding on another human with three woman and two large guys behind slowly came through the center. One of the rosin bubbles was around his head with an oxygen mask attached to it.

"Who are they?" Youko asked and Ace narrowed his eyes as they passed by where the two of them were hiding.

"They're the Celestial Dragons." The man said looking at the girl. "No matter what they do, nobody gives a shit. The man he was riding and the women behind him were slaves."

"There's slavery in here?" Youko asked and Ace nodded.

"Only on this island. The Government turns a blind eye to it because the Celestial Dragons like it so much. The think of everyone else as being under them and don't give a rat's ass about anyone but themselves." Ace said and Youko frowned. "That's why you need to stay with me."

"Why?" Youko asked and the man smiled.

"A girl like you is easy kidnapping prey." Ace said and Youko frowned at this, taking it as an insult to her strength.

"What's that's supposed to mean?" the girl asked and Ace laughed at her.

"You are obviously someone that they would kidnap if they find you alone." Ace said wrapping his arm around the girl's shoulder and leading her to the amusement park.

* * *

"So, what should we ride first?" Ace asked as they looked around and Youko's finger instantly pointed to the biggest roller coaster there was and Ace laughed.

The two of them got in line even though they didn't have to wait long. They got in the middle car and as soon as it started, Ace grabbed his hat as it had almost blown back and Youko lost hers, not being able to catch it in time.

Ace had expected the girl to grip onto him in fear of the speed but Youko had her hands in the air and was having fun as the wind rushed at her. The girl was laughing throughout all of this and Ace laughed along, having fun as well.

"Aw man, I lost my hat." Youko said as they got off of the ride and tried to flatten their windblown hair.

They sat at a bench and Ace began to mess with the girl's hair, which now reached her shoulders once again, into going down. The clip he had gotten her had been taken out so that it wasn't lost on the ride like the hat had been. Youko laughed and tried to fix Ace's hair though that was pretty much impossible due to the fact that it was barely any less tamable than Luffy's.

"Want some ice cream?" Ace asked and Youko nodded before demanding chocolate which made Ace laugh as he got up to get it.

Youko sat and waited, lightly swinging her legs as she sat on the bench and waited for Pyro to return. Nobody paid much attention to the girl for they were either busy themselves or having too much fun. Youko was just a normal person here and wasn't someone who stood out which was pretty normal, but now she liked just being able to blend in.

Though normal probably wasn't the best word to describe her for even though the world she lived in now was more realistic than the world from which she came from, the fact that she wasn't born here still came to her mind. Youko stared at the sky and noted how blue it was, how much color actually came to her here and how much everything seemed less and less like a dream.

"What're you thinking about?"

Youko looked at Ace who was standing in front of her with two cones and smiled. Ace was so real as well that it was as of this couldn't possibly be a dream.

"Not much." the girl said accepting the cone and licking the cold chocolate sweetness. "This is so good!"

"Yup, I deem you five." Ace said eating half of his in one bite.

"Shut up and you always eat so fast." Youko said taking another lick of hers as Ace finished off his cone already.

"Then give me some of yours." The man said leaning over and trying to lick the girl's cone.

"Like hell!" Youko said leaning away from the man who eventually stopped when Youko rammed her fist into his gut.

"Cheap shot." Ace said and Youko just stuck out her tongue before continuing to eat her ice cream.

Ace smiled and as soon as Youko's tongue hit the cream, he moved in and took a bit of it at the same time. This ended up with them centimeters apart and Youko's eyes widened as Ace smiled a bit before licking off the ice cream that had gotten on her nose. Youko blushed and her ice cream disappeared before it reappeared in Ace's hand. The man smiled before he finished what hadn't melted already and Youko stared at him shocked and slightly pissed.

"That was mine!" Youko said and Ace grinned before grabbing the girl's face and connecting it with his.

A chill ran down Youko's spine at first because she and Ace were kissing in public and the fact that Ace had some ice cream still in his mouth. The girl could feel Ace push some of the chocolate stuff into her mouth but his tongue lingered a bit.

When the ice cream was completely gone and sometime after that, the two of them broke the kiss. Youko blushed and Ace smiled before standing up and grabbing the girl's wrist, bringing her in the direction of another ride.

Youko froze a bit as Ace dragged her onto the Ferris wheel and made her sit next to him as it began to go up. Ace glanced at Youko who had gripped his arm and was concentrating on the pole in the center of the cart that they were in.

"What's wrong?" Ace asked and Youko continued to look down.

"I hate Ferris wheels." The girl said and Ace mentally kicked himself but questioned why. "When I was little I went on one and almost fell out of it when the thing got to the top. It scared the shit out of me."

"Ah, sorry." Ace said grabbing the girl and putting her into his lap before putting a death lock around the girl's waist. "This better?"

"A little." Youko said glancing up at the man who smiled at her before resting his chin onto the girl's head. "So, what are we going to do in Mermaid Island?"

"I have a friend there who will show us around." Ace said as the ride began to move down. "You'll like the place."

* * *

YAY and done and I so did not make up Whitebeard knowing Rayleigh for the coating, what? Okay, to get things clear, the fear of Ferris wheels but the love of Roller coasters together is possible. i am living proof. And Like with Youko, I too almost fell off of one when I was little so you cannot get me onto one even if it meant I would die. I choose death. However, give me the fastest and most daredevil roller coaster and it's a different story. I would go on it even if it killed me. Anyway, onto Mermaid Island Next!


	29. Walk Around Town

Like A Boy

Chapter 27 Walk Around Town

Youko walked the streets of Grove 43 by herself around noon. Ace had told her to stick with him but when she woke up from their hotel he was gone and she was bored. Youko didn't need Ace to protect her all the time though. She may only be seventeen now but that doesn't mean she couldn't protect herself in this world. Besides as long as she stayed away from lawless zones and hid when the tennribyuto came she would be fine.

Youko put her hands in her pockets and noted how noisy it was with the newest rookies that had showed up to try their hands at the New World. People were complaining about the ruckus that they made even though only two crews had showed up. One who's captain had a bounty that was higher than hers.

Youko looked around and found nothing that interested her though she was in a shopping district so that was to be expected. Where the hell had Ace even gone anyway, if he was hungry he could have just woke her up and then they could have gone out. Man that man was a pain in the ass sometimes.

A small chuckle escaped the girl's lips as she thought about what Ace had made her go through and how much her life had changed since she had come to this world. If she had never been sucked through the whirlpool and hadn't fallen into the Grandline, what would she be doing right now?

Would she be at school, bored out of her mind and ignoring the teacher? No, it was the weekend she thought so she would be at home bored out of her mind and ignoring the TV. Not much excitement and no adventures to go on. Just a normal teenager's life where everything was planned out and wait, no that would be it if she was obeying her parents. Now that she thought about it, what exactly happened to her in that world? Was she totally forgotten or maybe a missing person's case? She could have probably died and this could be her second life or heaven, though heaven was very painful and scary. Maybe hell then since she had a chance of going there.

Youko caught sight of something or someone hiding in one of the alleys which took her out of her thoughts. The man caught her eye and a small, sly smile grew on his face before disappearing. Youko stopped and stared in confusion over who the man was since all that she could see of him was his Dalmatian spotted hat and tanned skin.

Youko shook her head and went about walking through the streets as people rushed by her wanting to go on their own way. Though it seemed that none wished to get into her way or even accidentally bump into her but the blue haired girl figured it was due to the tattoo that she had no problem showing on her stomach. That however didn't stop one man from getting in front of her and Youko looked at the rather tall man.

"You look like you're on steroids." The girl said bluntly to the smiling man who had ripped muscles and a monk's necklace on his neck.

"My name is Urouge." The man said and Youko looked at him confused. "You're the newest rookie on the Whitebeard Pirate crew."

"I'm Youko." Youko said and the man laughed though the men who appeared to be his crew warned him to back off.

"If I beat you, will Whitebeard become angry?" he asked and Youko cocked her to the side.

"Oyaji will be pissed and so will everybody else especially Ace but why do you ask?" the girl asked and Urouge put his fist together before slamming them onto the ground.

Youko jumped back as the fists broke through the ground terrified people around her. The girl easily landed on solid ground before glancing at the man who had stood up straight and continued to smile. Youko sighed and looked around, she really didn't want to fight this guy right now and if she got hurt Ace would burn the place to the ground.

"I'm sorry but I can't fight with you at the moment." Youko said jumping back.

"Scared?" Urouge challenged and a tick mark formed on Youko's forehead.

"LIKE HELLL!" the girl screamed. "I just don't want Ace to show up and never mind he's already here."

The girl pointed behind the winged man to his crew who were currently running around, on fire. They were screaming and a very pissed off Ace was smiling happily as he walked up to Urouge who looked at the man nervously.

"Ace don't go randomly killing people." Youko said and Ace smiled at her.

"They aren't dead besides they wanted to attack you." The man said ramming his fist into Urouge's side and sending the man flying.

"We're pirates, that's what we're supposed to do." Youko said with a sigh and ace smiled before wrapping his arm around the girl and walking away.

"Then why didn't you fight back?" Ace asked and Youko looked up at him.

"Because you would have destroyed the island if I got hurt. Besides, where did you go?" Youko asked and Ace laughed.

"True and out." Ace said Youko just gave him a look.

"So I can't go out by myself but you can?" Youko asked and Ace gave an 'oh crap' look.

"Well it's not like you listened." The man said to get out of talking about it and Youko got out of his grip before continuing to walk forward.

"Fine but I want a new hat." The girl said looking at Ace's.

"But then your flower will get covered up." Ace said following the girl around.

"I want one to go around my neck." Youko said and Ace sighed.

"Then what's the point of having one if you're not putting it on your head?" he asked and Youko turned to him with a frown.

"That is the point." Youko said putting her finger in his face.

"Okay, okay." Ace said biting the finger but that just got him punched. "What was that for?"

"Felt like it." Youko said walking to another store.

* * *

Youko sighed and looked at Ace who was asleep next to her before looking at the sky. They had found a quiet spot in the lawless zone and Ace had fallen asleep but Youko wasn't tired. She hadn't found a hat yet and she was bored but Ace would get angry at her if she went to the amusement park.

The girl looked at the sign and wished that Ace could find a better place to take a nap rather than under a sign with the skeleton of a marine on it. The girl was more interested in what had been written on the sign than the thing but the stupid skeleton was in the way and she wasn't going to touch it.

Youko was too intrigued with the skeleton and sign to notice the group of men that had snuck up behind her and Ace until one had covered her mouth and another tied her hands together. Youko kicked her foot up and got out of one's grip before turning around kicking the other. Youko twisted her wrists around to try and get them out of the ropes but another rushed her.

Youko stepped back and out of reach of the man's sword before turning around and having it slice the ropes though it did nick her wrists a bit. The girl ripped the cloth off of her and ran to Ace, ready to kick him awake but another man jumped on top of her. Youko opened her mouth to scream Ace's name but it was closed again.

This time the men were smarter and they shoved the teenager into a bag after she had been gagged and handcuffed. The men quickly left before Ace woke up though it shocked them that he hadn't woken up through the struggle that the girl had given them. The group of men disappeared not realizing that the whole affair had been watched by another who followed them.

* * *

Ace woke up and looked around for Youko but failed to see his girl anywhere. The man stood up and tried to search a bit more when he looked at the ground next to him where blood, rope and Youko's flower rested on the ground.

Ace bent down and picked up the clip before standing up and searching for the girl. "Dammit." The man said before rushing in the direction that the kidnappers had taken the girl.

* * *

Youko glared up at the men as they tied her to a pole in their little base and laughed at the girl. Whenever one got to near, Youko would bring her foot up and kick them in the crotch before they could do anything.

"So what do we do with her Boss?" one asked a rather fat and ugly man.

"Hm we can sell her pretty high at the slave trade or we can ransom her with Whitebeard himself." The man said thinking about it.

"Or you can let her go."

"We can also do that." The man said before ramming his club into Youko's head. "Like hell bitch!"

The man looked at the girl who glared at him very disapprovingly. "We sell her to the slave trade. If we ransom with her boss we would all wind up dead." The man said before smiling. "However that doesn't mean we can't have fun with her first."

"I will fucking kill every single one of you before Pyro gets the chance." Youko threatened though all it did was make the men laugh.

"I bet your little friend doesn't even know where we are." One man said and Youko cringed.

"Yes but I know quite well."

The group turned around to the newcomer who smiled at the group of men who had surrounded the small girl. Youko instantly recognized the man as the one she had spotted in the alley earlier that day. The men looked at the newcomer terrified for they knew exactly who he was.

"Y-you're the Dark Doctor Trafalgar Law." The head said and the pirate smiled.

"So you know my name." Law said before surrounding the men in a semi-sphere room. "Room."

Youko watched and the man quickly unsheathed his sword and sliced at the slave traders, their body parts flying in different directions. Law put his hands out and shifted them around making the bodies fly into different circles before having everyone go back together but in different order.

The room disappeared and the traders began to freak out over what happened to them. Law simply walked through them and up to Youko who stared at the man in confusion to what he wanted. Law bent over the girl and began to mess with her cuffs as the door to the place slammed open. Youko turned to Ace who was panting heavily and looking around till he spotted the girl he was searching for.

Ace Vision: His girl handcuffed to a pole with a man over top of her messing with handcuffs that were around her wrists. Youko was slightly flushed by unknown reasons.

Real Version: Youko handcuffed to a pole with law trying to get her undone. She is flushed because of being stuffed in a bag and the kidnappers were running around trying to get their own body parts found.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO YOUKO!" Ace yelled pointing at Law who put his hands up and allowed Ace to melt the cuffs.

The freckled faced man quickly grabbed the girl, smothering her against his chest and hiding her from view of the man that had saved her. Youko sighed and looked up at Ace so that she could explain but both he and Law were glaring at each other in full intent on killing.

* * *

Okay going onto Mermaid Island after a few chapter breaks. IF that made no sense to you on the first try don't read it again because it won't a second. Anyway, a lot happened in this one and LOL Law came in and Urouge really does look like he's on steroids and I am talking gibberish. I hope you guys liked^^


	30. Finally Departing

Like A Boy

Chapter 28 Finally Departing

"Mo~ Ace I can't believe you did that." Youko said once again as Ace simply ignored her and continued to get ready to leave for Merman Island. "Ace are you listening to me?"

Ace looked away from the blue haired girl who frowned and looked away from the man as well. Shakky sighed at the young couple before walking over to Ace who was pouting slightly. Ace looked up at the woman and smiled at her to be kind.

"Ace-chan, you should be considerate of Youko's feelings." The woman said and Ace looked down.

"Yeah but she doesn't even understand what was wrong." Ace said and Shakky smiled.

"That's why you shouldn't be angry with her." the black haired woman said Ace glanced at the girl who was trailing her hand in the water.

"Yeah but still." Ace said and Shakky sighed before walking up to Youko who glanced up at the woman and smiled.

"Why are you and Ace-chan fighting?" Shakky asked and Youko looked at her confused before going back to watching the ocean.

"I think he's angry that I got myself in trouble but he didn't have to try and kill the guy that saved me." Youko said and Shakky smiled.

"It sounds to me as if Ace-chan is jealous of the man that saved you." Shakky said and Youko looked at woman confused. "Ace-chan wanted to be the one to save Ocean-chan but another guy saved you first. Then you defended the man. Guys are easily led astray by this sort of thing so why don't you talk with Ace-chan."

"Okay, thanks Shakky." Youko said with a smile before turning to Ace.

The two pirates caught each other's eye before quickly turning away and looking at the most interesting thing in front of them. Shakky sighed with a small smile as she saw this. "I hope these two will be fine by themselves." She said before waving good bye as the two pirates began to sink under the water.

* * *

"Wow! This is really cool!" Youko said as she watched the resin bubble that surrounded the Striker. "The ocean looks so cool in this thing!"

"You really are a little kid aren't you?" Ace asked and Youko looked at him angrily.

"Shut up Pyro, this is my first time in one of these things, I have the right to be excited." Youko said and Ace smiled slightly before grabbing Youko's face and gently kissing the girl.

Youko's face turned red as Ace did so before she quickly calmed down. Why the hell was she still so embarrassed about the man kissing her? They had done it so many times before so it shouldn't be something she should be embarrassed about. She even had sex with him once and they kissed in public and ah why was she even thinking about that?

"You having a panic attack or something?" Ace asked looking at Youko in the face and the girl fell backwards.

"D-d-d-don't randomly appear in front of people like that!" Youko said and Ace chuckled before placing Youko in his lap and just allowing the boat to take them down.

"You have been really jumpy lately." The freckled faced man said as the girl looked up at him.

"Shut up." Youko said and Ace chuckled before hugging the girl slightly.

"That pirate that you said helped you out, was that all he truly did?" Ace asked and Youko nodded.

"Though Shakky said that you were jealous that he got to me before you did." Youko said and Ace froze before looking away from his girl.

"Some women have scary intuition." The man mumbled and Youko laughed.

* * *

"We need to lower the ship a bit more." Youko said and Ace proceeded to do so while Youko watched the bubble around them curiously.

"What's wrong?" Ace asked and Youko looked at him sheepishly.

"I just get the feeling that the bubble is going to pop due to the water pressure." Youko said and Ace smiled to reassure the girl.

"Don't worry about it." he said and Youko looked at him. "Rayleigh knows about this sort of thing the best but the one who Shakky requested was a friend of Rayleigh's so it's fine."

"Okay but if I die from this popping I am going to haunt you for the rest of your life." Youko said and Ace laughed.

"But then you have to go down to hell with me." Ace said and Youko looked at him.

"I'm already going there so there isn't any problem in that." Youko said before glancing at cavern that she was able to ahead of them.

"Is that it?" she asked and Ace looked at it before smiling and speeding up the Striker a bit. "Ace don't go too fast!"

Ace grabbed Youko and told her to hold on as he rushed through the opening in the Red Line. Youko gripped Ace's torso as the man increased the speed that they were going and rushed into the inky darkness. The girl closed her eyes as the speed picked up even more and Ace laughed at it.

Youko honestly loved the speed that they were going at but she kept her eyes closed. When Ace told her to open them, Youko wasn't all that sure that she wanted to but she did so. The girl looked around her in amazement as she saw that they were on a road of water. Youko let go of Ace and watched as ships that were coated like theirs travelled on different roads. Some going in the same direction that they were going while others went in other directions.

"Wow!" Youko said as she stared in amazement before noticing that the current underneath them was going to turn. "The current is turning to the left."

"Right." Ace said and he turned the ship along with it and Youko stood on the part with the bubble so that she could tell where the current was going to turn next.

"Keep with this speed." Youko ordered and Ace smiled before doing so and turning when Youko told her to. "Go to the left and take a sharp right."

"You really are good at predicting the currents." Ace said after they had gotten through the currents.

"Not really." Youko said sheepishly. "I just have to feel for them to come. Anyway, what do we do now?"

"Ah, well we can go meet up with my friend Jimbei." Ace said and Youko looked at him curiously before looking around the port that they had stopped at.

Even though they were under water and in a cave, Merman Island was well lit by natural coral reefs and shells that shined brightly. The whole island was covered in a large resin bubble and the ground seeped the things like did the island above it. The bubble would float to the top of the large bubble before seeping into it.

There were many water ways that flowed through the island and every ship at the port was coated. Ace jumped out of the bubble and Youko followed before the two of them began to walk down the streets. Pirates turned towards them while others hid in alleys that were nearby. Youko looked around curiously while Ace just smiled.

"Oyaji claimed this island as his so we have it under our protection." Ace said and Youko nodded understanding what that meant. "The pirates know better than to mess with this island but they are still nervous when seeing a Whitebeard Pirate wandering around on it."

"Especially the Second Division Commander?" Youko asked and Ace laughed a bit.

"Along with the rumored next in line." The man said and Youko frowned.

"I'm still questioning how that is possible since I'm not even close to being as strong as the other guys." Youko said but Ace just smiled before saying hello to the mermen and mermaids greeted them.

* * *

WEEEEE Merman Island! I have no clue if what the island looked like or the whole resin bubble thing is true but I'm not waiting until it shows up in OP to find out. I had fun describing this and Ah finally at the island though I think I already said that. Anyway hope you liked^^


	31. Pants

Like A Boy

Chapter 29 Pants

"HEY JIMBEI!"

A large blue merman lifted his head and looked in the direction of Ace who was waving at him before smiling and walking over to them. He was wearing a male kimono style outfit that was orange and had a white and black square pattern all over it. Youko looked up at the merman and smiled as he greeted them.

"Ah Ace-kun so you really did come here." The man said before glancing at the blue haired girl next to him. "This must be the rookie, Youko-kun that I have heard about."

"Why does everybody know about me?" Youko asked and Ace laughed before wrapping his arm around the girl's shoulder.

"Because the government always gets on Oyaji when he gets a new rookie that is causing them trouble." Ace said and Youko looked at him.

"I didn't do anything though." She said and Ace laughed again.

"Well you've become the center of attention." Ace said and Jimbei looked at the girl who seemed to have shrunken a bit.

"I hate being the center of attention." Youko said and Jimbei smiled before offering to show them around.

"I'll get a hotel room for you guys to stay at." The merman said.

"You don't have to do that Jimbei. We're still pirates so we can't just stay here for free." Ace said and Jimbei smiled at him.

"This is as a friend and thanks to the old man." Jimbei said and Ace shrugged knowing that he couldn't beat Jimbei's offer.

"You know Jimbei personally?" Youko asked and Ace smiled at her.

"Yeah, I met him right before I challenged Oyaji to a fight. We fought for five days straight and it ended in a tie." Ace said laughing and Youko looked in-between the two men.

"I didn't know that you fought with Oyaji before actually joining." Youko said and Ace shrugged.

"How did you join Youko-kun?" Jimbei asked and Youko laughed as she remembered.

"I fell out of the sky and they saved me." Youko said and Ace laughed at the thought of it.

"It's pretty weird how you almost drowned when you are so good at swimming." Ace said and Youko rammed her elbow into his side.

"I kinda went through a whirlpool and did a whole dimension skip." The girl said and Ace looked at her and smiled.

"But you still were really funny when you first came. I couldn't tell you apart from the boys." The freckled faced man said and Youko's foot made contact with his face.

"Wallow in your pain." The girl said as she continued to walk with Jimbei as Ace was left behind.

"You're rather different from what I expected." Jimbei said and Youko looked at him curiously.

"In what way?" Youko asked and Jimbei smiled at her.

"I expected you to be more like Ace and a bit more reckless." Jimbei said and the girl laughed.

"I'm not an idiot like Pyro." The girl said looking back at Ace who had a narcoleptic fit.

Youko sighed and grabbed his foot and dragged him along as she talked to Jimbei who sweat dropped at the girl who had no indifference on the sleep attack Ace had had. "You just seem a bit more mature than him." Jimbei said and Youko looked at Ace who had snorted.

"If you're awake say so." Youko said dropping Ace's foot and the man fell altogether before standing up.

"Jimbei, Youko is as childish as it can get. She's also not all that bright." Ace said poking his girl in the head though that resulted in Youko biting him.

"I'm not as childish as your brother." She said and Ace smirked.

"Brother?" Jimbei asked and Ace looked confused before remembering that he hadn't told the whale shark merman about Luffy.

"Ah I have a little brother named Luffy. Well I guess you could say that he's worse than Youko." Ace said and landed another punch in Ace's gut though the man didn't keel over but instead he grabbed Youko and lifted her over his shoulder.

"LET ME GO!" Youko said as Ace continued to carry her with a very victorious look on his face.

* * *

"I can't believe you did that Ace." Youko said as she sat on the bed in the hotel that Jimbei had gotten them.

"What?" Ace asked smiling at the girl who stuck her tongue out at him.

"That was embarrassing." The girl said before flopping onto the bed and sighing as her long hair went everywhere. "Ugh this stuff is getting very annoying."

"But you look cute with long hair." Ace said and Youko glared at him before the man smiled and began to play with it.

"I'm going to cut it." Youko said and Ace looked at her shocked.

"Why?" he asked and Youko looked at him with a 'why do you care' look.

"It is getting really annoying and I like short hair better." Youko said as she began to look for a sharp object though Ace quickly hid them all from the girl. "You going to play hard Ace?"

"I will let you cut your hair short but on one condition." The man said and Youko became pissed.

"IT'S MY HAIR!" she yelled and Ace frowned.

"And you are my girl." Ace said and Youko hit him with the clock.

"I want my hair short." The girl said and Ace covered her mouth.

"I will let you cut your hair short but until it grows out you have to wear those really short girl shorts." Ace said and Youko's eyes went wide.

"YOU MEAN DUKES?" she asked and Ace nodded. "LIKE HELL!"

Ace bent over and whispered something into Youko's ear that made her eyes go wide before she jumped back. "There is no way that is going to happen." The girl said and Ace smiled.

"Then wear the shorts or keep your hair long." Ace said and Youko grimaced.

"I'm wearing a bikini top, isn't that good enough?" Youko asked and Ace pointed at her chest.

"Your chest doesn't show much but you ass does." He said and Youko hit him once again.

"Don't go off such lewd thoughts!" the girl said before Ace tossed her a pair of shorts. "WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE THESE!"

Youko lifted up a pair of brown dukes that were really small and Ace smiled at her. Youko blushed at the thought of wearing them before turning around and going through her bag. Ace looked at her questionably and the girl pulled out a different bikini top that was blue.

"Turn around and I swear to god if you look I will send you to hell personally." The girl said and Ace did happily for he knew that this was his victory.

Ace tried his hardest not to look but the sounds of Youko struggling with the pants made him look at her. Ace couldn't help but find himself staring at the girl's bare back as she tried her hardest to get the shorts on. Ace let his eyes trail down and he looked at the girl's ass and was glad that he had forced her to wear the shorts though Youko felt his stare.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO LOOK!" she said covering her chest and ramming her fist into his face.

Ace fell against the wall with blood coming from his mouth from the punch that was dealt to him. Youko quickly grabbed her man pants and was about to change back into them when Ace grabbed her wrist. Youko turned to him and Ace smiled as he looked at the girl who had a blush on her face as she remembered that she wasn't wearing a shirt. Youko thrusted her fist at Ace but the man caught it and pushed Youko onto the bed.

"Quite teasing me Pyro!" the girl said and Ace chuckled before kissing her.

"But it's too much fun." Ace said and Youko kicked him in the crotch.

"I'm not a play thing." The girl said grabbing her bikini and covering her chest before looking at the man who was in obvious pain. "There I wore it, can I get my hair cut now?"

Ace looked at the girl and stood up, somehow recovering from the blow that had been dealt to him. Ace grabbed Youko's wrist and forced her to stand in front of him and the girl shyly tried to cover herself with her arms. Ace smiled before grabbing the girl in a hug.

"Yup you really look nice when you're dressed as a girl." Ace said and Youko smiled slightly.

"Then stop groping my ass!" the girl said kicking Ace into the door and watching him slide down and stay where he was. "I'm changing back and tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut."

"But you have to wear them all the time." Ace said and a thought came to Youko.

"Do you honestly want other people to be staring at my ass?" She asked and Ace froze before thinking about.

"Absolutely not. You are only to where them around me." Ace said and Youko smiled at her victory.

* * *

I seem to be making Ace more and more like a little pervert. I wonder if I should stop that or not. Well I hope you liked this chapter^^


	32. Club

Like A Boy

Chapter 30 Club

Ace and Youko stayed in Merman Island for a few days but after a while they had to leave for they had to get back to the main ship. Jimbei saw them off as well did half of the island and the two waved back. Youko smiled as they travelled through the currents that led them out of the cave on one side of the Grandline to the other.

"The sun is really pretty." The girl said and Ace smiled at her before letting the Striker speed through the ocean and pass all other ships.

Other pirate ships and their crews looked away and tried not to catch the eyes of the two pirates. All of them knew, even if this was their first time in the New World that the Whitebeard pirates were not a group they wanted to mess with. Even if every single one of them were to team up together and attack the two pirates, even if they had somehow succeeded, the moment that the news of their deaths or capture reached Whitebeard's ears, they were already practically dead. They recognized the two of them and noted that it was the first commander and the next in line.

Youko glanced at the pirate ships as they flew pass and noted that the pirates would look away the moment her eyes caught theirs. Youko raised an eyebrow at this and glanced at Ace who noticed her look and smiled. Youko cocked her head to the side but went back to her book and continued to read it, ignoring the pirates like Ace was.

* * *

"So what is the next island called?" Ace asked as they breaked somewhere in the ocean.

Youko put her book down and took out a map that she had been given and began to look through it. "It's called Kurabu Island." the blue haired girl said and Ace smiled before looking at the girl. "And you want to go to a club."

"Of course." Ace said and Youko sighed while Ace smiled. "Alcohol, partying and you in tight pants." Ace glanced at what Youko was wearing and sighed at how she still wasn't wearing the shorts even after he had allowed her to get her hair short.

"Yeah, like I'm wearing tight pants, but a club sounds like fun." Youko said and Ace smiled at her before placing her in his lap. Youko glanced up at Ace who smiled at her and the girl smiled back before closing her eyes slightly.

* * *

"So this is Kurabu Island?" Ace asked as he looked at the platform style designed island and smiled.

The place lived up to its name for everywhere you looked you could see a club and it was very busy. Music could be heard throughout the island and girls wearing revealing outfits walked around. Ace looked at them and Youko frowned before the man turned to her and pointed his thumb at one girl.

"Why can't you dress like that?" he asked and Youko narrowed her eyes before walking away.

"I heard that there is a club that is supposed to be the best of the best here." Youko said looking at a back door that led to who knows where.

Ace glanced at the girl and the thought of victory went through his head. Youko was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans with a loose white belt and a tank top that even though covered her mark, revealed a good portion of her chest. She had on knee high black converses with blood red laces. Ace himself was wearing his usual shorts but had agreed to wear a shirt.

"And you said that you wouldn't wear tight pants." Ace said and Youko looked at him before grabbing the rim of her skinny jeans and pulling them showing that there was an inch of space.

"These aren't tight, in fact these won't stay up." Youko said and Ace raised an eyebrow.

"Then why not wear your belt right." He asked and Youko frowned.

"That won't look good and besides, I like the pants like this." Youko said opening the door.

Their ears were the first to suffer for as they walked through the halls that led to where the actual club was held, music blared pass audible heights. Youko covered her ears and Ace laughed, somehow that was still audible before they continued to walk to the dance floor.

People were dancing and Youko found herself smiling at the music that was blasting through the room. The two pirates made their way to the bar and decided to start the night off with a drink. The bar keeper looked at them and handed them the drinks saying that everything was on the house. Youko happily accepted the alcohol and took a drink of it before looking at Ace who was watching the dance floor.

"Shall we?" he asked and Youko sighed as Ace dragged her into the crowd.

Youko found herself able to sing to the songs that were being played even if he singing was off key. Ace watched the girl's face as Youko sang along and smiled as the girl smiled as well. Youko looked at the DJ and noticed that it was a girl around her own age. The girl was happily playing the music that blared throughout the club.

Another girl around the same age was introducing the songs and getting every person in the room fired up. Youko listened as they named another song and for once, she recognized it as one she heard before. A song from a band in the other world.

"Something in Your Mouth."

"WHAT!" Ace asked over the music and Youko looked at him.

"I KNOW THIS SONG!" Youko yelled and Ace looked at the DJ then back at the girl.

"THEN DANCE WITH ME!" Ace said placing his hands on the girl's hips.

A tinge of red appeared on Youko's face at realization of what Ace was doing and she looked at the man who smiled. Youko didn't want to but this type of music got to her and she began to dance and the way she was caught Ace's attention. The black haired pirate wasn't the only one and guys turned their heads to the girl was moving her hips like she knew what she was doing.

Ace glared at the men who were watching his girl and stepped closer to the girl who looked at him and smiled. Youko didn't care anymore and continued to dance and Ace happily joined her. The man grabbed her hand and spun Youko around as the girl laughed and danced. Youko laughed as she fell against Ace and the man looked at her with a smile.

Ace smiled at Youko as the girl continued to dance like she had before. If she had been wearing her usual shorts, the movement of her hips wouldn't have had as much affect as they did. Ace smiled at the girl though he was surprised at how she could dance like this though Youko didn't seem to mind much.

Ace chuckled a bit before bending down and placing his hips on the girl as she danced and Youko looked at him and blushed as Ace smiled at her. Youko stopped dancing and pushed at Ace who started to laugh before he bent down and whispered into her ear.

"Where did you learn to dance like that?" he asked and Youko looked at him, only able to hear now that the music had stopped for a brief amount of time.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Youko said and Ace grabbed her in a hug and laughed.

"Can you dance like that for me at the hotel?" he asked and a large blush formed on Youko's face as the girl tried to shove Ace's face away.

"LIKE HELL!"

* * *

"Ah, I'm tired!" Youko said as she collapsed on the armchair in their hotel room. A tinge of red was on her face suggesting that she was partially drunk.

Ace looked at the girl and smiled; even though he had had more drinks than she did, Ace still remained not drunk. Youko looked at him and Ace walked over and leaned over the girl who smiled at him. Ace sighed knowing that Youko was drunk before picking her up and caring her to the bed.

"I don't wanna go to bed!" Youko said wrapping her arms around Ace and attempting not to be put down.

Usually Ace would have liked this but he knew that Youko was drunk even though it was the first time seeing her be so. Ace wasn't going to do anything to her in this state and decided that if he could get the girl to sleep, everything would be fine.

"You need to sleep Youko." Ace said and Youko booed him and lifted herself up to him more.

Ace sighed at the girl who was almost like a koala now and sat on the bed. Youko looked at Ace and smiled while Ace just sighed once more before looking at Youko who leaned in closer to the man. Ace looked at the girl who put her hands on either sides of his waist and leaned in closer to Ace.

"Ace…" Youko said getting face to face with the man and Ace backed away slightly but allowed his eyes to trail down the girl's back.

Youko was one her knees and he butt was ticking in the air and Ace gulped as he tried to get away from the girl. This was not what he thought what Youko would be like drunk. Youko smiled before leaning in closer and gently kissing Ace's shoulder bone. A warm feeling filled Ace but he pushed Youko away and looked at her face before sighing when he realized that the girl had fallen asleep.

"You are really troublesome when you're drunk." Ace said laying the girl down on the bed and smiling at her sleeping face.

* * *

WOOT new chapter and I love clubs but i can't get into any... Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter^^


	33. Fangirls

Like A Boy

Chapter 31 Fangirls

Youko sat up and looked around as she tried to remember where she was but nothing registered. The girl glanced at Ace who was sleeping next to her and figured that she was in the hotel that they had rented before falling back next to him. Her head was pounding and she figured that she was having a hangover whatever that felt like. A knocking on the door woke the girl up again as well as add to the pounding in her head.

The blue haired girl irritated and dizzy walked over to the hotel room door and opened it. She was faced by two girls her age; the same ones form the club the night before. Youko stared at them and they stared at the girl, surprised as to who answered the door. The taller of the two waved at Youko who became annoyed before gesturing for them to speak.

"IS this the room of Portgas D. Ace?" one asked and Youko looked at them confused even more before looking at Ace who tiredly walked over to the door to see who had said his name.

The man was shirtless like usual and half asleep but he was able to get the attention of the two girls who pushed pass Youko and immediately went over to the man. The two of them began to squeal around the man as Youko carefully closed the door so that they didn't draw a crowd.

"Who are you?" Youko asked and the two girls turned to her for a split second though you could tell that it was reluctantly.

"I'm Kris." The red head said.

"I'm Tiffany." The blonde said before turning back to Ace who wasn't sure what to do in this sort of situation.

"Okay, but a few things." Youko said before pulling the two girls away from Ace and getting between them and him. "How do you know who Ace is and why are you squealing at him like some annoying fangirls?"

"We are fangirls." Tiffany said and Youko stared at the girl while the other began to talk.

"We've always wanted to meet Ace-san in person so we came here." Kris said and Youko looked at her.

"What are you talking about?" Youko asked and the two girls pulled her away from Ace who was still thoroughly confused.

"We already know this, but this isn't your real world is it?' tiffany asked and Youko stared at her.

"How did you?" Youko began and the two smiled.

"We're the ones who brought you here so of course we know." Kris said and Youko glared at her.

"You two are the reason why the government was after me!" Youko said and the two girls smiled at her and she had gotten Ace's attention.

"How did they get you to this world?" Ace asked and the two fangirls went up to him.

"Never underestimate girls who are in love." They said simultaneously and Ace raised an eyebrow and glanced at Youko who shrugged.

"See, we wanted to come to this world desperately so we found a book that allowed us to do so." Kris said Ace nodded. "There had to be a total of three people who came here."

"Me and Kris, us being the heads of the fan club were two of the people who came." Tiffany said and Youko looked at her. "But we needed a third person who wished with their full heart not to be in this world."

"So we cast the spell and prayed that someone within a mile wished not to be in this world and luckily there was." Kris said and she pointed to Youko who stepped back. "And the lucky girl was you!"

"But since we weren't at the same area, we had no clue where you were but we figured we'd meet up eventually." Tiffany said and Youko became irritated.

"Okay, you explained that but what do you want now?" Youko asked and the two girls smiled.

"Well we had fun in this world." Kris began. "We did a lot of things that we wanted to do and the main thing we wanted to do was done."

"Which was?" Youko asked.

"Prevent Ace from getting captured by Blackbeard and dying in the Whitebeard War." Tiffany said and the two pirates stared at the girls.

"W-What are you talking about!" Youko asked. "Why would Oyaji go to war and with who?"

"With the government of course." Kris said staring at the girl in shock. "Blackbeard beat Ace and then Ace got captured and was put up for execution."

"No way, but where the hell are you getting this form?" Youko asked and Ace seemed to be lost in thought.

"We already knew that that was going to happen." Kris said.

"But that was changed." Tiffany added on.

"By who?" Ace asked and the two girls smiled.

"BY Youko." They said together and Youko stared at them.

"You being here prevented Ace-san from being executed somehow though it doesn't seem like you did much." Kris said and Youko continued to stare at the girls. "Anyway, the story was changed so we have to go back to our world."

Youko snapped out of her stare and looked at the girls shocked. "What do you mean go back to our world?" the girl asked and Kris stared at her with bored eyes.

"Of course we can't stay here." She said and Tiffany nodded her head in agreement. "We have to go back to our world or things are going to change for the worst."

"What do you mean for the worst?" Ace asked and Tiffany spoke.

"The whole course of this story was changed." She said and Ace narrowed his eyes.

"What story?" Ace asked and the blonde smiled.

"In our world, everything that has happened here is a story. We are currently in a story book." The girl said and Youko stared at her wide eyed.

"You aren't part of this story line." Kris told Youko and the girl stared at her. "Oda-sama didn't create you which means that you are going to disappear someday."

"No," Youko said and the two girls stared at her in shock. "I'm not leaving this place, if you want to leave then leave."

Kris and Tiffany stood next to a black hole that was created in the floor and stared at the blue haired girl. They smiled and looked at each other before turning to Ace who raised an eyebrow at them. Their grins turned mischievous and Youko gulped at what they were going to do.

"We'll allow you to stay but on one condition." Kris said and Youko looked at her curiously.

"Ace will you kiss us." The two girls said together again and Ace stepped back and looked at them wide eyed.

The two girls stared at Ace hoping for a yes but instead received a push. They looked at Youko who was extremely pissed off and gulped as they watched her face. Tiffany frowned and looked at the girl with a small pout.

"What, we have the right to ask that." The girl asked and a tick mark formed on Youko's face and Ace decided to back away.

"Ace is mine." Youko said and the two girls stared at her.

"Hey, don't hog him all to yourself!" Kris said and Youko kicked her into the black hole and Tiffany looked at her friend in shock.

"Either you jump in or I kick you in too." Youko said and the girl backed away before jumping in and calling Youko demon as the portal closed.

"Oh god I'm glad they're gone." Youko said sinking to the floor and closing her eyes, her headache from the alcohol gone but a new one arising.

"Not fazed by what they said?" Ace asked leaning in front of the girl who smiled at him.

"Nope, because I can't even remember what my name was in that world so it doesn't matter." Youko said Ace wrapped his arms around the girl and Youko returned the hug.

She placed her head on Ace's shoulder as the man decided not to end the hug and closed her eyes slightly. The girl took in his scent and began to think of what the girls had said. _Am I really going to disappear because I'm not supposed to be part of this story?_

* * *

Ah Okay that may have been kinda stupid but the mystery of how Youko came to this world is solved. I had fun and i kinda hope that no one hates me for this at all and did I leave with a cliffhanger because I know that i ended with a really big one in one of my other fictions... I hope you liked^^


	34. Rock Maze

Like A Boy

Chapter 32 Rock Maze

"So this is the supposed 'greatest test of strength'?" Youko asked as she and Ace stared at the maze in front of them.

"Yup," Ace said looking at the rock walls as well.

The island that they were currently on had a single maze that was apparently impossible to get through. That however only made Ace more eager to try it out and sadly Youko had to go as well. The two pirates weren't afraid of the challenge but they had already figured out that death was the reason why no one passed the challenge.

"So, make it through, get a few beris, and get back to the Moby." Youko said and Ace nodded.

They had received info that the Moby Dick was nearby and that meant that they could finally see everyone again. However, instead of going straight for it, Ace had discovered this challenge. His thirst for this challenge is the very same thing that could make them miss the ship for the currents of the New World were worse than the first half of the Grandline.

"We are doing this once." Youko said and Ace smiled before grabbing her wrist and running into the maze.

Once in, the two of them looked around, trying to figure out which was to go. Ace pointed in a direction and Youko decided just to follow even though she knew a way that would be easier. Ace however would not want to do the idea for it was easy. The girl sighed at her man's simpleness and continued to follow him.

"So how long till we get out of here?" Youko asked and Ace looked at her.

"How am I supposed to know?" he asked and Youko sighed.

"We are going to miss the ship." She said knowing it as a fact and Ace laughed.

"We'll get to it eventually." The man said and Youko smiled knowing that it was true. "Tired of me already?"

"Maybe~." Youko said trying to tease the man a bit.

Ace took the bait and stared at the girl in shock at the thought that she had. Youko tried to hold back her smiled but failed miserably. Ace grabbed the girl and lifted her over his shoulder.

"Put me down Pyro!" the girl cried and Ace chuckled but instead of putting the girl down, he flipped her into a bridal style of carrying.

"Maybe I don't want to." The man mused and Youko frowned up at him.

Ace smiled before bending down and kissing the girl. Youko kissed back because of this, Ace decided to let her off easily and placed her back on the rock ground.

"Now that that is out of the way, let's get out of this maze." Ace said and Youko smiled before following the man down another passage.

A few hours passed and nothing happened except that they had come to the conclusion that they were lost. Ace growled at the dead end while Youko watched the sky. Ace looked up at it to was interested the blue haired girl but found nothing except darkening sky.

"What's wrong?" Ace asked and Youko pointed to the top of the rock cliff.

"If we climb up there, we might find a way out." she said.

"Isn't that cheating?" Ace asked and Youko gave him a look.

"Aren't we pirates?" she challenged.

Ace grinned and easily scaled the rock surface though for a normal person that would have been impossible. Youko however attempted to get to the top as well even though she already knew the outcome. The girl lost her grip and slid back down making Ace chuckle as bit.

"SHUT UP!" the girl snapped and Ace grinned down at her.

"Need any help then?" he asked and Youko began to climb again.

The girl got halfway up but when she reached for a small section of the wall, her fingers slipped. Ace noticed her loss in balance and slid down in time to grab the girl's hand. Youko looked at him wide eyed and Ace grinned before finally getting them both to the top of the wall.

"Well that was fun." Ace said and Youko sent him a glare.

"Yeah." She said, "Lots of fun."

"At least you didn't fall." Ace reminded her and Youko sighed.

"Yeah and thanks." The girl said and Ace grinned before beginning to look around.

"Damn this is a big ass maze." He said and Youko agreed. "Take forever to get through this fairly."

"Then it's a good thing that we're cheating." Youko said looking around for the exit.

"Ah don't call it cheating." Ace said. "Sounds bad."

"What would you call climbing up the side of the wall of a maze to find the exit?" the blue haired teen asked.

"Cheating." Ace finally said after a second of thinking and Youko nodded.

"Okay, I think I see the exit over there." Youko said pointing to a building that was at what appeared to be the center of the maze. "That must be where we get the prize money."

"Then let's go." Ace said running towards it and Youko followed with a smile on her face.

* * *

The two pirates stared at the building from around the corner of the wall from the maze. They had climbed down the side a short ways away so they weren't caught cheating. They looked at the building and noted the guard dogs though those didn't faze either of them.

"So, do we just go in?" Youko asked and Ace shrugged.

"I guess so since no one is going to greet us." The freckled faced man said and the two pirates walked towards the small building, alerting the dogs of their presence.

The large Dobermans instantly went up to the pirates and circled them, sizing them up and seeing if they were worthy. Youko watched them and had her hands loosely at her sides, luckily Ace seemed to be doing the same thing. One came up to Youko and sniffed it her, figuring out her gender before walking away, the rest going with him.

Youko looked at Ace who simply shrugged and began to follow the large black dogs to the house since that was where they were leading them to. They stepped on the porch of the small brown brick house and looked at the chairs that occupied it before noticing the dogs opening the door for them.

The two pirates walked into the dark room and looked around before finally seeing who was in there when the lights flashed on. An old man, older than Oyaji was sitting in a chair, slowly rocking it back and forth. The two of them looked at him and he seemed to not have noticed that they were there until the head of the dogs came up to him and rubbed against his arm.

"So we has two newcomers now do we?" he asked looking at them and smiling a toothless smile. "A young couple is it? What did you take this challenge on for?"

"It was a challenge." Ace said and the man narrowed his eyes before a smile crept on his lips once more.

"Finally a youngling who isn't in for the money." He said and the two pirates looked at each other. "You saws all of them dogs out there didn't you?"

"Yes." Ace said and Youko looked at the ones that occupied the house.

"They be old contestants who came only for the greed that was in their hearts." The man said and Youko stared at him. "I have what you could call a Devil's Fruit that allows me to change a person into any animal that I desire."

"That's a pretty cool ability." Youko said under her breath and the man laughed.

"Ah it is deary," the man said before letting his dark gaze rest on her. "I will tell you the exit but first you must pass one more test."

"Okay, what is it?" Ace asked with a confident smile and the man smiled before standing up and walking over to Youko.

The man reached a creaking old boney finger to the girl and placed it against her forehead. Ace stared in shock as he watched the girl change in form from that of a teenage girl to a small black Doberman in a matter of seconds. When the transformation was complete, the girl looked up at Ace in a pile of her clothes.

"What the hell?" Ace asked and the old man laughed.

"I told you of my ability boy." the man said and Ace glared at him while Youko looked her new dog form over. "I will turn your woman back to normal once you find an object for me."

"What object?" Ace said and the man lifted a picture of a flower.

"This is the flower that trapped me in this maze, find it and burn it and I will let you and your girl go free, her in her human form of course." The man said and Ace stared at the picture and then glanced back at Youko who stared at him with her same green eyes.

"Fine." Ace said snatching the picture. "But if you don't keep your promise, I will burn you instead."

* * *

Okay, I am really sorry for the fact that this is really late and that i haven't updated ANYTHING! I have had a large brain fart and writers block but I think that that has finally disappeared. I actually wrote this on my way to a hotel in West Virginia since I am going to Ohio to see relatives XP for Thanksgiving. And when I say write, I mean on my phone in the memo and then retyped on my computer. I plan on updating more, maybe but that depends on if I don't get dragged out of the emo corner by my family. Hope you liked and what will happen next, even I can't say


	35. Youko the Puppy

Like A Boy

Chapter 32 Youko the Puppy

Ace looked down at the small almost puppy sized dog next to him before finally realizing what had happened to his girl. The man went wide eyed and picked the girl up and out of her pile of clothes and looked her over, making sure she wasn't injured and satisfied when she wasn't. Ace held the puppy happily though Youko wasn't all that pleased with being carried.

The girl looked up at the man and whined about being held but Ace simple smiled and ran a hand across her forehead, annoying the girl into nipping him though Ace laughed at the futile attempt. "Old man, Youko had better turn back to normal, you understand me?" Ace told the elder who nodded.

"You'll get your lady back when you burn this flower." He said and Ace nodded before placing Youko in his bad. "The puppy has to stay here."

"No way in hell." Ace said before walking in the direction that the dogs had gestured to. "Don't trust you completely."

* * *

"Now that I think about it, maybe I should have asked where exactly the flower was." Ace said after he had been walking for almost three hours.

Youko sighed as she looked at the sky from inside the bag that Ace was currently carrying on his back, trying her hardest not to fall asleep on the man. They had missed their chance at getting onto the Moby Dick and she was a dog, she couldn't even talk to Ace now and he was going to need help in this case. The female looked at the back of her man's head and another sigh escaped her muzzle; she wanted to be of some form of help but at the moment she was completely useless.

"Hey Youko, don't worry about anything." Ace said looking back at the small dog who glanced at him, "Leave this to me, I'll make sure that I get you back to normal."

Youko looked at the freckled faced man's smiling face and a warm feeling filled her and she smiled though she wasn't sure if Ace could see it or not. the man looked at the puppy and happily picked her up out of the bag and looked her over once more. Youko looked at him curiously before Ace nuzzled her against his cheek happily, confusing the poor dog until the man spoke.

"God you look so cute like this." Ace said happily. "You being like this might be nice too."

A tick mark formed on Youko's face and she bit Ace on the cheek causing him to release her and she easily landed on the ground which had gone from rock to loose soil and was now beginning to be filled with vegetation. The girl looked up at the man who was rubbing his sore cheek and a triumphant 'humph' came from her for she was still able to teach Ace a lesson even in her lacking form.

The man noticed the sound and kneeled down in front of the black dog and scratched behind its ear and even though Youko didn't want to admit it, it felt nice to be getting this attention. Ace however did notice the pleasurable feeling that Youko was emitting and smiled making the small pup flinch as to what was going through the black haired pirates mind.

"So you can even make faces like that." He said though the girl never actually made a 'face' to begin with. "Well, let's get going."

The man stood up and began to walk in a certain direction, not bothering picking up the girl for he knew how much she hated being carried even though he loved to carry her. Youko quickly followed behind him as fast as her legs could take her, never letting Ace out of her sight.

* * *

"We've been walking FOREVER~!" Ace finally said and Youko had to admit that they were getting nowhere.

It was already pass midnight and they hadn't seen a single flower even if they were now walking through a very lush vegetation filled part of the maze. The walls were still made of stone but vivid green ivy decorated the wall and gave you the feeling that you were in a fairy tale like garden though at the current moment that wasn't going through the two pirates' heads.

"Curse that goddamn old man!" Ace cursed to the starry sky much to Youko's displeasure. "Give us more of a hint then what it looked like! I can't even remember that!"

Youko sighed and stood up and walked over to the man, nudging at his leg and making the guy look down at her. ace looked at the girl before sighing and sitting down next to her before placing the black pup on his lap. Youko looked up at the man and Ace smiled at her before beginning to groom her fur making Youko's small tail wag though that was more of reflex than anything else.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be complaining since you're the one who got turned into a dog." Ace said and Youko nudged at his hand.

Ace smiled again and brought the girl up to his face, for the first time noticing that Youko, even though her blue hair was now black, still kept her bright forest green eyes. Ace touched his nose to the girl's happily and Youko gently placed her paws on his face though the carrying was very much disliked.

"I promise to get you back to your normal self, all I have to do is burn that flower and everything will be fine." Ace said and Youko licked his face which surprised Ace. "What the..?"

Youko didn't do anything more but jumped down, back into Ace's lap and curled into a ball before finally falling asleep. Ace looked at the girl before smiling once more and gently leaning back against his bag and falling asleep as well, a protective hand covering the pup.

* * *

"Damn that's a lot of flowers."

Ace and Youko stared at the field of flowers that they had finally found in mid afternoon the next day though just how many were there was something that they couldn't count. The colors were all bright and brilliant, almost blinding the two as sunlight shown on them at full intensity, not giving either of them any mercy from the intense colors.

The flowers blended together creating an abstract painting that could not be described by words and Ace's stupid mark was evident to that as it was. Youko seemed not able to say anything even if she had had the ability to speak for there were no words to describe what was in front of them.

"Ah, I have no time to be sitting here and gazing in awe." Ace said snapping out of his trance and looking at the flowers. "There's only one problem though… HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FIND A SINGLE FLOWER IN THIS MESS!"

* * *

I'm sorry that this is really late again! I've been sick lately and Kinda in a block and I have been busy and I hope this is good enough and I promise to make it better then next chapter and add in a bit of humor and god I feel crappy. WHY CAN'T IT BE BREAK YET~~! My school get's off two days before Christmas that is not fair man. But I am getting a kitty for Christmas and I'm naming her Monkey.


	36. Truth Behind the Flowers

Like A Boy

Chapter 33 Truth Behind the Flower

"It's been a couple of days since those two pirates left to find the flower." The old man said running his old hands across the forehead of one of the dogs.

In full out honesty, he didn't care whether or not the young man succeeded for even if he was freed from the place, he was reaching the time where is age was giving up. Sooner than later, he was going to pass on to the next world and when that happens, all the people he had changed will go back to normal if they wish to. He had only ever changed them in hopes that he would have a companion or two with him but before the man had known it, he had had dozens.

It started off with a couple of friends who wanted the money, when they had seen the old man they tried to kill him for it and by reflex, the old man changed them into dogs. After that he got into the habit of changing those who wanted the money into dogs.

"Maybe these two will succeed and free all of you." The man said as he lazily glanced across the old house.

* * *

"This is so damn stupid!" Ace said angrily as he looked through flower after flower after flower. "I barely remember what the flower looks like!"

Youko sighed as she pounced through the field, trying to remember what the flower that Ace had described to her looked like. She wasn't having much luck and personally she was beginning to think that maybe it was impossible to find the thing. However Ace never gave up and neither would she. The black puppy ran to the center where it seemed that the flowers were growing from and carefully looked at the thorny branch that they came from.

As she stared at the thorns she came to realize that she had been running through them and looked at her legs and saw that she had multiple thorns in her. Youko sighed and ran back to Ace who was still looking for the flower, the thorns not hurting him.

Ace looked at the pup and noticed the thorns sticking into and chuckled lightly before picking the black dog up and carefully removing the thorns. Youko still didn't like getting carried but she tolerated it long enough for Ace to remove the thorns. When the man was done, Ace placed Youko on his shoulder so that she didn't get anymore stuck into herself.

"I think I have an idea as to how we can find this flower." The man said and Youko looked at him curiously and Ace smiled. "It's rash but why not just burn down all the flowers. The old man will be freed and you can go back to normal."

Youko looked from Ace to the flowers and inwardly sighed but knew that that was the best for at this rate, they would never find the flower. She nodded and Ace placed her on the ground a ways away from the flower bed and he quickly went to burning the flowers.

* * *

All the dogs gathered around the old man as he gasped for breath after having fallen out of his chair. They whined and nudged him, sniffing him and pawing to try and get him to stand up. The man carefully looked up at them, his eyes barely making out the forms of the animals that worriedly surrounded him. He had had a heart attack. The sound of running footsteps, those that belonged to the young man came to the dogs and they all quickly ran to meet the pirate.

Ace and Youko stared at them curiously as to why the animals were all urging them into the run down house. As soon as Ace stepped into the house, he noticed the old man and ran to him, flipping him over onto his back to make it easier for him to breath.

"OSSAN WHAT HAPPENED!" Ace asked and the man looked at him and then at Youko.

"Don't yell so loud youngin'" the man said hoarsely and Ace flinched at the effort it took just to say the words.

"Oi you shouldn't talk." Ace said quieter and the man sighed, the attack beginning to vanish but the effect still with him.

"It's alright there young man. Did you rid of the flower?" the old man asked and Ace helped him sit up.

"We destroyed a field of flowers but we aren't sure if that was the one." Ace said after the man assured him that the attack had been a small one.

"You destroyed a large field of flowers all strung on a single thorn branch?" the old man asked and Ace nodded. "Good job."

"Wait, was that the flower?" Ace asked and the man nodded.

"Ah, it was." The man said before carefully placing his hand on Youko's forehead. "What seemed like a field of flowers was actually only one flower."

Ace stared at Youko who was beginning to change from the form of a pup to that of a teenage girl. A smile grew on Ace's face when he noticed that his girl was no longer a dog anymore. Youko looked at him and then at the old man before noticing his face.

"Been a while since I've seen a girl's body." The old man said and Youko looked down before noticing that she had no clothes on.

Youko quickly covered herself and hit both the old man and Ace before going into the fetal position on the floor. Ace sat up having been used to the way that Youko hits him and looked at the old man. A dog brought over Youko's clothes and the blue haired girl quickly put them on before turning to Ace.

"Did I hit him too hard?" she asked though a blush remained one her face.

"If he dies now, he'll die happily." Ace retorted and the girl sighed.

* * *

"I thank you for freeing me from this place." The old man said and the two pirates smiled at him. "In all of my ninety nine years, I've never met pirates quite like you."

"Well of course because you've never met us before." Ace retorted and the old man laughed. "What are you going to do now?"

"I will stay here and continue the maze." The old man said.

"Even though you're free of this place?" Youko asked and the man nodded.

"You see that flower had a drug in it that was causing me to become ill but at the same time healing me." The old man said. "I was too weak to destroy it but if burned, the pollen would mix with the ashes and go into the atmosphere and I could breathe that in and be fine."

"So it wasn't some sort of curse?" Ace asked. "Just some natural phenomenon?"

"Pretty much." the man said and Ace sighed obviously having wanting it to be more than that. "Well you two have fun and try not to get caught by them marines now."

"We won't old man you can count on that." Youko said smiling and the old man waved good bye as the two pirates walked back to where the Striker was.

* * *

"Let's see, the ship was heading towards the Baron Islands so that means we might encounter it if we head towards them." Youko said as she stared at the Log Post.

They had been out at sea for only a few hours after their adventure in the rock maze and Youko was already trying to figure out when they could meet the Moby Dick. Ace looked at the girl who was going through a map that she had found and was carefully mapping where they could go.

"Youko why don't we just leave it up to chance?" Ace asked and Youko sighed.

"Because that would mean that it would be years before we are able to even glimpse the Moby Dick." The girl said and Ace grumbled.

"But I'm bored." The man said before grabbing the girl and hugging her.

"Ace, you're making it very hard to try and read this map." Youko said and Ace grinned before hugging her tighter. "ACE~!"

"What?" the man asked and Youko looked at him angrily.

"Look Ace I'm trying to make sure we don't wind up getting lost here." The girl said and Ace booed.

"Hey, I saved you from spending your whole life as a dog back there." The man said and Youko sighed.

"And I thanked you for that." The girl said before getting out of Ace's grip and beginning to read through the maps again.

"Hey, I always save your butt so at least let me have some fun." Ace challenged and Youko looked at him.

"Excuse me?" she asked and Ace nodded.

"Every time you get into shit, I have to help you out." Ace said and Youko put down the maps.

"I think you have it the other way around. You always get us into trouble and then I have to find a way out of it." the girl said and Ace frowned.

"Yet in the end I always have to save you!" the man argued and Youko puffed.

"Are you saying that I'm incapable of helping myself?" the girl asked and Ace nodded.

"Yes, you're too weak to help yourself." Ace said and Youko slammed her fist into Ace's face, water covering it.

"STUPID PYRO!" the girl screamed before turning away and going to the back of the Striker.

"What the hell was that for!" Ace asked and Youko turned to glare at him.

"I'm sick and tired of you looking down on me!" the girl said turning her back onto the man again. "Just leave me alone."

"Grr, fine! Be that way you damn bitch." Ace said before leaning against the striker, facing away from the girl. "Do whatever the hell you want."

* * *

Saix: *Hiding behind the wall* hey peoples... I'm so sorry for the lateness and I know I made a few of you worried but I am alive! I was not in an accident and the worst injury I got was spraining my right hand which is kinda the reason why I wasn't able to type up anything and well since I am in high school I kinda had to worry about my finals and my midterms which aren't over yet and all but yeah I finally have free time to type some of my stories up.I hope you aren't angry at me and well I plan on still writing I just have been really busy lately. I hope this chapter is good enough for my absence.


	37. Deleting this Account

Hey everyone, this is 7Saix-Puppy7, I am sorry that for the past year I have been inactive, things happened and my fanfictions became my last priority as well as things that I wasn't too proud of. I realized how bad my writings were and decided that I would stop. Later on I got back into writing however I made a new account and created a new OC. I completely forgot about this one.

I came here to tell you that I plan to delete this account. However, some of the stories will be rewritten and posted onto my new account. This story,Like A Boy will note be it was one of my more popular ones, Youko died out on me. I realized how much I disliked her and her story really had no plot. The ending was going to happen soon anyway. They were going to meet up with the Whitebeard Pirates, via falling on the deck, say they were home, end of story. This story is now over.

However other stories will be rewritten and posted on my new account. My new account is xXBorn-A-PirateXx which is also my DeviantArt username if we wish to see that. Thank you for understanding.


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